MSOE students take first place at regional construction competition
| Published: 11/04/2005 |
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Two MSOE teams took first place in their competitions at the Great Lakes Regional Construction Management Competition from Oct. 27-29, 2005.
The Commercial Team and the Design Build Team will advance to the national competition to be held in the spring, slated for March 6-9, 2006. Dallas, Texas, is the tentative location. Both teams are defending the national first-place titles they currently hold. For four years running, both teams have placed in the top three at the nationals.
"What makes this competition great is that the students condense three semesters of class work into a three-day competition," said Bob Lemke, MSOE associate professor and coach for the Design Build Team. Michael Emmer, MSOE assistant professor, has coached the Commercial Team for two years. The MSOE Commercial Team has won the nationals both years.
Competitors are given specific projects to create a plan for and make presentations on using given criteria. During the design build competition, teams designed an art museum and school for Washington University on a $31 million budget. Construction of the design had to be priced, a schedule to build the project coordinated and the project presented-all in three days.
The commercial competition challenged teams to use an existing design for a Metro station and parking garage in Chicago. With a $13 million budget, they had to schedule the construction of the project, keeping in mind site logistics, such as safety issues involving heavily-traveled tracks, and price. This competition, which does not include design, requires a detail-oriented presentation.
Since the competition first began in 1999, the Commercial Team has never lost a regional competition, making this their seventh year. This year's Commercial Team consisted of no returning members from last year's championship team.
The Design Build Team overcame the challenge of one member returning from the emergency room in time to compete in the competition.
Commercial Team members are Jacob Basten, Andy Goetz, Eric Klemm, Seth Miller, Kevin O'Keefe and Josh Schultz. Design Build Team members are Adam Friedman, Kevin Kendellen, Veronica Konieczka, Ryan Lent, Thor Misko, Matt Tadisch and Josh Buckholz.
Held in Downers Grove, Ill., the competition included more than 20 teams representing schools such as Purdue University, Michigan State, University of Cincinnati, Illinois State, Indiana State, Eastern Michigan University, Ferris State University and UW-Stout.
McCarthy builders sponsored the Design Build portion of the competition; Walsh Construction and Pepper Construction sponsored the Commercial. The entire competition was sponsored by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) and the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC).