MEASI alumni wins international award

Chennai, Dec 7 (UNI) Ms Nandita Chakravarti, alumni of MEASI Institute of Architecture, New College, who is currently a student of US-based Towa State University, along with Ms Zach May, another student, has won fourth place in the 2005-2006 International Student Design Competition of Airport, Security and Circulation.

The competition, which was sponsored by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and administered by Association of Collegiate School of Architecture (ACSA), held recently to explore a variety of security design issues related to circulation of passengers, cargo and personnel throughout airports.

The ACSA competition, which received more than 100 entries across the world, challenged the students to redefine air travel and to re-establish the quality of future airport experience for travelers.

The competition required students to design a terminal for a Category I airport (mid-sized) with particular attention paid to a Protective Security Zone, a release from MEASI said here today.

''It is heartening to see that one of our alumni has won such a great honour from the US Department of Homeland Security and the Association of Collegiate School of Architecture, which is a reputed not-for-profit organisation representing over 4,500 architecture faculty members,'' said Mr H M Shamsudeen, Secretary, MEASI Academy of Architecture.

''In a world of increasing terrorist threats, airport safety guidelines are becoming more and more stringent. Our alumni student's design focused on providing high security without suffocating airport circulation,'' said Prof Altaf Ahmed, Director, MEASI Academy of Architecture.

Ms Chakravarti said her design dealt with security, the circulation and the image of the airport itself. Contrast to the traditional security zones her new airport design had many more, less-invasive security zones separated by concrete blast walls and connected by steel and glass tubes. ''The concrete walls would be made to let the commuters resist lobs from a bomb,'' she said.

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