Built by Bond
Matt and Lucas represent Bond University's past and future. Together they're bringing the Connections Precinct to life.
Built by Bond
Matt and Lucas represent Bond's past and future. Together they're bringing the Connections Precinct to life.
In 2015, Matt Mead shook Vice Chancellor Tim Brailsford's hand on stage as he graduated with a degree in Construction Management and Quantity Surveying. A decade passed before the next handshake between the pair. This time they were standing on a construction site where Matt is leading the delivery of the university's most ambitious capital works project to date.
Matt is one of two Bondies helping ADCO Constructions build the Connections Precinct.
The other is Lucas, a Bachelor of Construction Management and Quantity Surveying student who splits his time between the classroom and the construction site as an ADCO cadet.
For Matt, returning to the campus where he studied holds particular significance.
“It is a nice full-circle moment to be back here, this time helping deliver a project that will become a real feature of the campus,” he says.
As project manager, his role is to oversee the work, ensuring it is safe, productive and efficient, and that the finished product meets Bond's expectations.
That responsibility brings him back into contact with some of the people who helped shape his career.
He has already bumped into several former lecturers including Associate Professor Dane Miller who was an early-career academic when Matt was a student.
“I remember Matt as a capable and engaged student who was clearly interested in the practical side of construction,” Dane says.
“It is great to see that interest develop into a career where he is now taking responsibility for delivering a significant project, particularly one back at the university where his own career began.”
For the other Bondy on the site, the story is only just beginning.
On a typical day, Lucas moves between two worlds.
He might spend the morning in the ADCO site office assessing progress claims and working through his usual tasks before heading upstairs for a lecture.
“I'll grab my laptop, rush upstairs and go to my class and then come back to the site office when it's done,” he says.
The arrangement offers a rare opportunity to connect theory with practice.
“It's great. I get to see the real-world side of what we learn at university and put the theory into practice,” he says.
“It's really the best of both worlds.”
Lucas joined ADCO when the Connections Precinct was still being planned.
“The stars aligned,” he says.
Working on the project has also given him a new appreciation for the relationship between contractor and client.
“Bond Uni is one of ADCO's most important and longstanding clients and you can see there is a really strong relationship there,” he says.
Now, as the buildings rise around him, Lucas is watching something he helped develop become real.
“It's something you become proud of as you watch it take shape, and it's great to be able to tell people you helped bring it to life.”
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