Construction Management Team at Colorado State University Named Finalists in National Design Competition

A team of Colorado State University construction management students has been selected as finalists in the Mechanical Contractors Association of America Student Chapter Competition.

The team of seven students topped 16 other schools from across the country to reach the final. Each team submitted a mock proposal detailing an expansion of a Wisconsin office building. Judges based evaluations on categories such as design, cost and construction feasibility.

The Colorado State team will give an oral presentation on their proposal during the MCAA Annual Convention in Palm Desert, Calif., in March. They will compete against MCAA student chapters representing the Milwaukee School of Engineering, Northeastern University and the University of Washington.

"It is a great honor to be one of the final four teams to present our proposal at the MCAA National Convention," said Mary Torrey, a senior majoring in construction management. "This is just unbelievable."

The project is based on a 58,000-square-foot expansion of an industrial contractor’s headquarters. Teams were responsible for designing all mechanical and plumbing systems for the new addition. Details for the project included material, equipment, labor and design for the different systems. The plan also outlined schedules and construction phasing as well as safety plans.

The Colorado State team labored for nearly 100 hours to complete the 125-page package, which included information about their mock company for the competition, RAMechanical Inc. The team’s success marks the first time in five years of competition that a Colorado State construction management team has ever placed.

"After being persistent year after year in the competition, this is a great achievement for all the students," said Mostafa Khattab, head of the construction management department at Colorado State. "This outstanding achievement demonstrates the quality of students we have in the program and the strong relationship we have with the industry."

As in past years, prizes for the MCAA competition are $5,000 to the first-place team, $2,500 to the second-place team and $1,000 to each of the other finalists. All finalists also receive a trophy commemorating their achievements.

Team members of the Colorado State MCAA national competition team are:

– Ryan Dorsey, senior, construction management

– Jeffrey Gilbert, junior, construction management

– Michael Givens, senior, construction management

– Adam Grubb, senior, construction management

– Jordan Heberlein, sophomore, construction management

– Mary Torrey, senior, construction management

– Chris Zech, senior, construction management

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