Two Washington State University student teams took first place in the recent Associated Schools of Construction competition, the largest construction management competition in the U.S.
More than 1,300 students from 53 universities participated in the competition, which was held in Sparks, Nevada. The competition requires that students solve complex problems in less than 24 hours, present proposals, and participate in a rigorous question and answer session in a business-like setting. WSU construction management, construction engineering, and civil engineering students participated.
A WSU team, coached by assistant professors Tommy Tafazzoli and Kishor Shrestha in the School of Design and Construction and sponsored by Graham Construction, took first place in the Heavy Civil category. For the competition, sponsored by Granite Construction, the students prepared a bid for an airport runway project while also addressing site logistics, scheduling, and site safety in less than a day. The interdisciplinary student team included Brayden Bostwick, Benjamin Ahmann, Jaeden Biehn, Alfredo Prieto, Samuel Dawkins, and Travis Vaughn with alternates Zachary Martian and Emiko Cook.
Front row: Tommy Tafazzoli (coach), Brayden Bostwick, and Kishor Shrestha (coach)
Another WSU team placed first in the commercial category. Coached by Jason Peschel, scholarly associate professor in the School of Design and Construction and sponsored by Howard S. Wright Construction, the students used construction management skills such as scheduling, estimating, site logistics, site safety, and technical writing to develop a proposal for a real-life construction problem. The category sponsor was Hensel Phelps Construction Co. The students included Meghan Smith, Georgia Robinson, Grace Lium, Nikhil Gurusiddaiah, Cameron Stout, and Shaaki Shaik with alternate William McGaughey.
“This is the second time in the last decade the WSU commercial team has won first place in back-to-back years,” said Peschel, “and we are incredibly proud of the heavy civil team as this is the first time since 2010 that they’ve been on the podium! Given the strong competition, both teams taking first place is a remarkable statement about the strength of the program, the students, and the coaches.”
Front row: Georgia Robinson, Meghan Smith, and Grace Lium
Several industry partners, including Exxel Pacific, Howard S. Wright, Mortenson, Graham, and Holland Construction provided financial support and/or practice problems for the WSU student teams in preparation for the competition. “We are grateful for the high level of industry support that we have here at WSU,” said Peschel. “Our students are fortunate to get such great experience and develop invaluable skills that will bring them success in careers. As always, GO COUGS!”
