The Boise State University construction management department recently competed at the 2019 annual Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) student competition and won first place in commercial, second place in concrete solutions and third place in design build. The event hosted 197 teams from 53 colleges and universities across the nation in both regional and open categories.
Each team included a wide array of students in terms of industry experience and education level. Boise State teams competed in the Heavy Civil, Design Build, Commercial, Concrete Solutions, Project Management and Alternates competitions.
“The ASC region six and seven competition provides an excellent opportunity for Boise State construction management students to practice and present what they learn in the construction management program,” said Casey Cline, professor and chair of the Department of Construction Management.
Teams form early in the fall semester and work for months with industry coaches, combining what they learn in the classroom with industry know-how to compete against other construction management students from around the country. Boise State construction management students consistently earn awards in several of the competition categories, bringing recognition to the Boise State construction management program locally, regionally and nationally.
“We are very proud of the effort put forth by the students,” said Cline.
During the competition, teams met with industry problem sponsors and were presented with real-world job site problems – in the form of problem statements – and accompanying plans and specifications for the job. Teams had about 18 hours to develop and prepare solutions including a detailed estimate, project schedule and staffing, safety and sustainability plans. Each team’s approach to pre-construction and construction phases of the project and their ability to respond to deliverables were critical in the grading process.
The following day, teams made a formal presentation of their solution to the professional constructors who worked on the actual projects. The additional requirement to verbally and visually present their solutions to the problem sponsors required strong teamwork and sharp communications skills. Awards were given to teams that exhibited the most comprehensive approach to all aspects of the project.