The School of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University has announced a partnership with Causeway, a global technology leader in 5D BIM (Building Information Modelling), as the latest development in its pioneering strategy to embed BIM into undergraduate degree and postgraduate programmes.

Causeway is providing its CATO software and expert support for students on the Commercial Management and Quantity Surveying (CMQS) programme. It will also be used by students taking modules on construction cost planning and estimating.

This partnership in the teaching and learning of CATO is important and timely, as construction and civil engineering students will acquire sought-after skills, gain employment and help companies to achieve the Government’s 2016 BIM target.

Dr Zulfikar Adamu, who has spearheaded the School’s BIM implementation strategy, says: “After appraising different products, we came to the conclusion that CATO provides best value. It will plug into our BIM ecosystem easily and help us to deliver graduates that are BIM-ready. The fact that CATO complies with RICS’ New Rules of Measurement (NRM) makes it ideal as a primary technology for teaching 5D BIM.”

The Dean of the School, Professor Tony Thorpe, added: “With BIM, and technologies like CATO, the School has taken another step towards sustaining the quality of our highly-respected CMQS programme. We are looking forward to a long term relationship with Causeway.”