The Pacific Association of Quantity Surveyors (PAQS) established the PAQS - Iwata Foundation in 2008 for the purpose of promoting the QS profession and the professional development of young quantity surveyors in the PAQS region.  Therefore, the Foundation is now sponsoring an international essay competition for young members from PAQS member countries.

The competition winner will receive travel fares, 3 nights’ accommodation and full registration for their attendance at the next PAQS Annual Congress which will be held from 20^th – 24^th May 2016 in Christchurch, New Zealand.            

Entries for the competition are now being accepted and will close on Friday 19^th February 2016. Properly completed essays should be emailed to the PAQS Secretariat at secretariat@rism.org.my

Entries will be judged by a PAQS-Iwata Foundation panel who will announce the result by 21^st March 2016. The panel’s decision is final.

The topic for the essay competition for 2016 is:

“BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE – A GLOBAL DILEMMA”

Conditions of entry:

1. Entrants must be 40 years of age or younger and be a member of their national QS/Cost Engineering institute (all grades of members are eligible).

2. The essay must have a cover sheet showing the entrant’s name, residential address, email address and the member institute/association to which they belong.

3. The length of the essay is to be between 1,000 to 1,500 words and essays must be typed in accordance with the below rules.

4. All competition entrants agree to give the PAQS copyright for their essays.

5. Any plagiarism by an entrant will result in disqualification of the entry.

6. Entrants agree that if they win the competition that they will attend the PAQS Congress (and present their paper if invited to do so by the Congress committee).

7. The award is not transferable and not convertible to cash.

8. The winner agrees to write and submit a one (1) page report on their attendance at the PAQS Congress to the PAQS Secretary within 4 weeks of attending the Congress – this report may be published in the PAQS Newsletter and member journals/newsletters.

9. The winning essay may also be submitted to the ICEC for entry in the K Humphreys Awards.

10. Entries must be emailed to the PAQS Secretariat at secretariat@rism.org.my by the closing date.

11. PAQS member institutes will be asked to translate essays into English where they have been submitted in another language.

     

    Rules for essay writing and submission - entries are to be:

     

1. typed in a MS Word compatible program

2. with type font being Arial size 11

3. lines are to be double spaced

4. Headings are to by Arial size 16, centred and bold

5. Sub headings are to be Arial size 12, left indented and bold

6. Footnotes and referencing is to be in accordance with the Harvard system eg:

   Smith, T. and Tang, H. (2006). The rise of globalisation in the QS profession. Australasian Journal of Quantity Surveying Vol 4 Issue 2, pp 34-36.

    

   Note:

   The PAQS - Iwata Foundation has been named in honour of Mr Toshiyuki Iwata (1914 – 2014) who although in his eighties, attended the PAQS Annual Congresses in the very early days of the association.  He attended a few congresses well into his nineties. During the 13^th PAQS Kuala Lumpur congress in 2009, he gave a televised congratulatory message to the 2009 PAQS-Iwata Foundation essay winner.