Construction and interior design students compete in ASC Student Competition

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On October 17-20, 2018, construction management students participated in the Associated Schools of Construction – Region 3 student competitions in Downers Grove, Illinois. The event sponsors seven different divisions of competitions. Euysup Shim and Haiyan Xie were faculty advisors for the four different division teams. There was a lot of hard work in preparation and practicing before the actual competition. The preparation consisted of weekly meetings and a “practice mock competition” simulation of the competition process. Shim and Xie provided endless support and collaboration between faculty and students. Shim had individual meetings with the teams to make sure team members were comfortable in our roles and that they fully understood our responsibilities. With his guidance, every team member knew the importance of their position and what they needed to accomplish during the actual competition.

The commercial competition team consisted of Logan Thompson, Team Captain, Kevin O’Riley, Ryan Long, Bobby Fortier, Ben Strobel, and Jason Love. The Department of Technology’s commercial competition team placed first. Their competition project was an Air Traffic Control Tower construction project that was actually constructed by Walsh Construction, the competition sponsor. The project included the demolition of the existing control tower, construction of a new Air Traffic Control Tower and Base building on Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Seattle, Washington. The team was required to develop a bid proposal that included quantity take-off, estimating, scheduling, site logistics plan, safety plan, quality assurance plan, value engineering, and suggestions for LEED points.

“The competition itself was an opportunity I will never forget. Being able to represent Illinois State University for this event made me that much more excited to participate. Our work day consisted of 15 hours working non-stop on our proposal as a team, helping each other with our roles and making sure our proposal was perfect when it was time to be delivered. The ASC preconstruction competition was a great experience! After months of preparation with my team and Dr. Shim, we were able to develop further skills as a team and as individuals even before the competition. Pepper Construction was very active in the preconstruction competition. We enjoyed our debriefing with Pepper Construction after all the presentations were finished, to hear about how the company actually performed the project we were assigned and what we could improve on in the future with proposals and preconstruction as a whole.” Courtney Linn ’19 construction management

The pre-construction team consisted of Aaron Fish, Team Captain, Michael May, Courtney Linn, Madeline Kladar, Travis Woolen, and Dylan Hoskins. The pre-construction team project was the Moxy Hotel Project in Chicago, Illinois. The Moxy Hotel which is being constructed by Pepper Construction, the competition sponsor. The project included an eight-story, 40,000 square foot hotel with a very modern design located in Downtown Chicago. The pre-construction Team was required to develop a bid proposal for pre-construction services and construction services that included cost estimating, scheduling, site logistics plan, safety plan, and quality assurance plan.

“Having the opportunity to be selected for the ASC pre-construction team two years in a row and to be the leader this year was a great learning experience. The ASC competitions are probably the most challenging competitions available to Illinois State University students. It challenges you on everything you have learned from your classes and much more beyond that. It is the best real world experience you can get out of a competition and is a great experience for students to network and get yourself and your school noticed by big contractors in the industry. I really enjoyed the competition and working with my group.” Aaron Fish ’18 pre-construction team captain

For the first time, construction management students participated in the project solutions competition. The project solutions competition team consisted of Sam LaScala, Team Captain, Joe Fundell, Zach Simmons, Joseph Williams, Vincent Cecchin and Thomas Bennett. The project solutions Competition was hosted by Morteson Construction and ProCore.

“This was my third year returning to the competition but first time competing in the project solutions division. Returning for a second and third competition shows this event is a fun, competitive experience. The competitions allow students to apply their classroom and internship experiences into real world scenarios. The practice and preparation for the competition is a great way to build your skills outside of the classroom. Besides improving your skills, it is a great networking opportunity for students,” stated Samuel LaScala.

This year’s project solutions team was challenged with estimating and scheduling the construction of a lower level hospital area and the construction of four-story elevator shaft. In addition to the estimate and schedule, the team had to identify the risks of the project and the solutions to mitigate those risks. The team presented their deliverables and participated in a question and answer session with the sponsoring judges.

“I think it is important that students get to compete for something more than just a grade in the classroom. This competition provides a great way for students get a motivated to apply their skills,” stated Samual LaScala ’19 project solutions team captain

The design-build team was a mix of construction management and interior design students. It consisted of Ethan Danks, Anthony Jackson, Luke Nyenhuis, and Brett Becker, construction management students, and Meaghan Daiber and Abby Bowen, interior design students. The Design-Build competition was hosted by McCarthy Building Companies. This year’s design-build competition was a new healthcare ambulatory care clinic facility and freestanding emergency department. Proposals were prepared in accordance with specific criteria which included pre-qualification information such as team member introductions, general company overview, project organizational chart, completed AIA A-305 Contractor’s Qualification Statement, and responses to the specific questions. Connie Dyar, interior design instructor felt, “Having the interior design students partnering with Construction Management students provided tremendous opportunities to take theory into practice. They are not only told they will be working with construction managers but they actually do work with them in the ASC Student Competition. Both majors benefit from this “real work” professional life scenario.”