PULLMAN, Wash. – A student team from the Washington State University construction management program took second place at the regional Associated Schools of Construction student competition, the largest construction management competition in the U.S.
It was the fifth year in a row that the commercial team from WSU – sponsored by Holland Construction – has placed in the competition, which is held annually in February in Sparks, Nev. More than 1,300 students from 46 universities and 18 states participate.
WSU’s team took second in the commercial category, which included 15 teams from schools in California, Oregon and Washington. Students were required to develop a proposal for a real-life construction problem in less than 24 hours. The problem was provided by the industry sponsor, Hensel Phelps Construction Co.
Students used construction management skills, such as scheduling, estimating, site logistics, site safety and technical writing. The team made a formal presentation and participated in a question and answer session with judges.
Student members on WSU’s commercial team included Brad Neudorfer, Michael Ruether, Kate Wallen, Marcus Konopaski, Marie Landsverk and Steven Bradshaw. The alternate was Trevor Leger.
WSU teams also participated in the design-build, heavy civil and virtual design and construction categories of the competition.
“This group of students worked hard and invested an incredible amount of time in preparation for the competition,” said Jason Peschel, assistant professor in the School of Design and Construction and commercial team coach. “The team completed five different practice problems developed and administered by our industry partners at Howard S. Wright, GLY Construction, Exxel Pacific, Mortenson Construction and the Northwest Construction Consumer Council. It’s difficult to clearly express how proud I am of their hard work and dedication.”
Contacts:
Jason Peschel, WSU School of Design and Construction, 509-335-2648, jpeschel@acm.wsu.edu
Tina Hilding, WSU Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture communications, 509-335-5095, thilding@wsu.edu
