The MCAST Institute of Building and Construction Engineering is coordinator of the project titled “Roofs of Europe”, a Comenius school project which forms part of the Life Long Learning programmes funded by the European Union. The academic year 2007-08 marks the third and final year of the project. Other similar vocational institutions from Germany, Spain and Ireland are actively involved as partners in the project.

A number of aims and objectives were mapped out at the initial stages. During this academic year, the aims and objectives of the project will be finalised by reaching a number of learning outcomes. The first project meeting of this academic year was held in Recklinghausen, Germany during the third week of January 2008, focusing on structural forces. It had, as its main objectives, the identification of structural forces that might be present in a structure or structural element and the investigation of effects due to the structural effects identified with particular focus on roofs.

A number of project activities for the Recklinghausen meeting were held.

To achieve the learning outcomes, it was decided that each participating country in the project would focus on one particular structural force and in national groups perform listed tasks.

The learning group from the MCAST Institute produced a DVD to explain the force of bending, the effect of deflection on structural steel, structural calculations on amount of deflection based on the general theory of bending and possible methods of failure. After conducting a simplistic form of literature review using specialised text in structural mechanics and properties of materials, the learning group produced an experimental set up at the Naxxar grounds. Different steel sections having different dimensions and cross-sectional properties were loaded with different loads and the amount of deflection was recorded. The steel beams were simply supported on two walls with different span constructed purposely for this activity. This experimental set up enabled the learning group to investigate all the parameters on which deflection is dependent.

This experimental set up was recorded by Paul Camilleri, lecturer at the Institute of Art and Design, Targa Gap (MCAST). The researched information and video were transformed into a DVD, complete with sound and pictorial enhancement. This DVD was then presented to the learning community at the Institute of Building and Construction Engineering and during the project meeting at Max-Born Berufskolleg, Recklinghausen.

The participants were two teachers: Martin Borg and Reginald Galea, and five students: Nicky Zammit Tabona, George Xerri, Bradley Vella, Karl Vella and Ryan Bilocca.