Story by Daniel Ricci

Student competition season is in full swing, and CSU construction management competition teams are poised to continue their recent successes.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) competition team recently took 10th place out of 35 teams at the annual event. The Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) team was chosen as one of four finalists out of 24 competitors to move to the final round of the competition held in San Diego, California, in March.

Competition preparation requires an incredible commitment of time and energy from students. The problem statements that teams are asked to present proposals on are complex and frequently cover new technologies and techniques. The NAHB team had to create a development proposal for a site of about 32 acres outside of Atlanta, Georgia. The MCAA team was asked to design a variable refrigerant flow mechanical system for a large apartment complex.

The competitions teach participants how to implement their classroom and internship learning in real world situations.

“We learned how to problem solve, how to back up solutions with logic, and to present findings in a professional manner,” said Barry Hall of the NAHB team.

The competitions also teach the importance of building cohesive teams to tackle large, complex projects and to use innovative solutions. “We had to collaborate…to make sure our proposal was accurate… [and to] approach problems in ways that no one has ever thought of. You really have to do things outside the box to solve problems,” said Kennedi White of the MCAA team.

The ASC Competition will be held in Sparks, Nevada, in early February. Seven teams from the CM department will attend the competition. CSU will also field a team at the NRCA Competition in Las Vegas in the beginning of March.

The bar for success was set high last year, but the teams have been hard at work and are looking forward to showcasing their talents.