Bangor man Simon Cummings completes first book

Fifteen years in the Further Education sector and a four-year PhD has recently led to a book contract for tutor Simon Cummings.

Bangor man Simon has completed what is his first book, which was released in September 2017, by publishers Pearson Education Limited.

The ‘Pearson BTEC National Construction Student Book’ is a core text book for students studying the BTEC level 3 construction and the built environment qualification and features real-life construction case studies and projects from across Northern Ireland.

Simon, a civil engineer by trade, wrote two chapters of the book specialising in the areas of construction design and management of a construction project thanks to his academic and industry expertise. Readers can delve into the world of construction with easy-to-follow projects. Each chapter comes with real life examples and illustrations.

Simon said: “I have been working as a verifier for Pearson for over 10 years and when they approached me to contribute to the book I was delighted. It is the first book I have written and is a major milestone for me both personally and professionally. It was very time consuming taking a total of eight months to complete, but very rewarding.”

Simon wanted to acknowledge SERC where he has worked for many years saying, ‘I would also like to mention and thank my colleagues at SERC, who were very accommodating.’

Simon worked on the book with fellow authors and practitioners Mr Simon Topliss, Mr Mike Hurst, Dr Sohrab Donyavi and Mr Andrew Bellingham.

SERC offers a range of specialised construction courses designed to meet the demands of the industry and fill skills gaps identified in the skills barometer. Courses range from apprenticeships to foundation degrees in areas such as civil engineering, construction and the build environment, architectural design and sustainable construction.  SERC also offer a range of HNCs in Construction and Building Services.               

The Pearson BTEC National Construction Student Book can be ordered on Amazon and is also available via e-book and hard copy in the SERC LRC.