Student teams from Washington State University’s School of Design and Construction recently took top prizes at the Northwest regional Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) student competition.
Two multidisciplinary teams that included students from architecture, construction engineering and construction management took first and second prize in the competition held earlier this fall. The top WSU team, Granite Peak Construction, received $1,500 and an invitation to the national competition in Dallas, Texas, where they placed fifth.
The competition requires that student teams create a project and then present it to leaders in the design-build industry. The first phase is a request for qualifications and identifies the team’s overall understanding of the design-build process. In the second phase, students develop a request for proposal that includes creating a design with a response to project-specific parameters. This year’s fictitious project was a $100 million airport expansion project based in Montana with a theme heavily based on the hit TV show “Yellowstone.”
The competition requires that student teams create a project and then present it to leaders in the design-build industry.
The winning teams included Keeley Taylor (architecture), Gabe Fossum (construction management), Aydan Darst (construction management), Jyotis Joy (construction management), and Nathan Swisher (construction management) for Granite Peak Construction and Michael Aksdal (construction engineering), Emmy Farrell (architecture), Keith Beard (construction management), Angus Giaquinta (construction management), and Camden Howard (construction management) for Whitman Builders. The teams were supported by alternates Harleen Garewal (architecture), Michaela Dixon (architecture) and from industry professionals from Lease Crutcher Lewis, the general contractor building Schweitzer Engineering Hall.
The students also attended the DBIA national conference and exposition in Dallas in November. Due to funding from Alaska Airlines Travel Awards Program, #makingflyingmatter, the school was able to take a total of 15 students to the convention this year. Additional participants included the WSU DBIA student club officers Livy LeCompte (construction management), Kellan Clark (construction management) and Nick Mayer (architecture). All of the students attending the conference had the opportunity to volunteer at the conference, network and attend seminars co-mingled with industry professionals. Additional support came from DBIA in waiving conference registration for all students that won the regional competition or volunteered at the conference.
“This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all the participants,” said Darhl Edwards, assistant professor in the School of Design and Construction and the club’s faculty advisor. “The DBIA Student Competition went through some changes this year and in my opinion, now provides the best real-world design-build experience outside of the design and construction industry. You can see the growth of the participants that, ultimately, makes them stronger and better prepared for future success in their chosen industry.”
