MSOE students are Preconstruction National Champions
| Published: 03/01/2010 |
|
A team of architectural engineering and construction management students from Milwaukee School of Engineering won the Preconstruction National Championship at the 23rd annual Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Student Competition held Feb. 11-13 in Sparks, Nev. Pictured are team members (back row, l-r): Josh Halvorsen (team captain), Joe Lodde, Alex Schmude, Matt Lepper; (front row): Kevin DePass and Ryan Havron.
Since entering the competition in 1999, MSOE has had 14 top three places in national student competitions and six national championship teams. No other university in the country has experienced the consistent level of success demonstrated by MSOE.
To win, MSOE competed against several universities, including Arizona State University, Colorado State University, Boise State University, Brigham Young University, Oregon State University, Brigham Young University, Idaho San Diego State University, California State Polytechnic University, University of Washington, Utah Valley State University, California State University, Virginia Tech and Sacramento State University.
This year's preconstruction problem was sponsored by PCL Construction, Inc. Students were challenged to develop estimates, schedules, sustainability analysis, cash flow analysis and project management solutions for a 15-story hotel renovation located in Hawaii. Each team developed a proposal within 15 hours and gave a presentation the following day. The panel of judges was amazed at the top-notch performance of the MSOE team. Judge Scott Viola, project manager of PCL, said the MSOE team showed impressive performance and did an exceptional job in all aspects of the challenge.
Dr. Jeong Woo, assistant professor in MSOE's Architectural Engineering and Building Construction Department, coached the preconstruction team this year, and Professor Robert Lemke helped prepare the students and assisted with fundraising efforts. Grunau Co. and Walsh Construction provided generous financial support which allowed MSOE students to compete in the national competition this year.
MSOE is an independent university with 2,600 students. MSOE offers 17 bachelor's degrees and nine master's degrees in the engineering, engineering technology, architectural engineering and building construction, computer, business, nursing and health-related fields. The university has a national academic reputation; longstanding ties to business and industry; dedicated professors with real-world experience; and extremely high placement rates and starting salaries. MSOE graduates are well-rounded, technologically experienced and highly productive professionals and leaders.