Graduate student and MSOE alumnus Michael Keegan ’24 has won the 2026 Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) Student Competition on Cold-Formed Steel Design. The annual student competition put on by the CFSEI challenges students to use their engineering skills and creativity to solve a problem with cold-formed steel structural design.

The 2026 competition asked students to design a cost-effective tiny home that could be mass-produced and deployed quickly to support families displaced by wildfires as transitional housing.

Entries came from students across the United States, Canada and India and were judged based on their design quality, constructability and overall presentation. They were required to submit their design plan, a 2D drawing and calculations for their proposed solution.

“I was excited to hear that my hard work paid off and that something beneficial came from the extra work during the school year, especially during the time I was completing my graduate capstone project and working full-time,” said Keegan. “It was very interesting to broaden my learning and understanding with unique programs and materials that are not covered in MSOE's curriculum.”

With his first place win, he also earned an invitation to attend and present his project at the Cold-Formed Steel Engineers Institute (CFSEI) 2026 Annual Expo in Long Beach, California this May.

“I hope that my involvement in this competition encourages more MSOE students to participate in the following years.”

Keegan is currently pursuing his master's in civil engineering specializing in structural engineering while working full-time as a cold-formed steel engineer at American Way Engineering LLC. He is on track to graduate this spring.