Students from the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering proved their scholarship as they won all four divisions of the 19th Annual Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region IV Student Competition.
This was the second time, the first in 2009, that Iowa State construction engineering student teams swept the competition.
“Their accomplishments are truly amazing,” said CCEE Senior Lecturer Larry Cormicle. “As a faculty coach this is a dream come true for me.” Cormicle earned an Iowa State master’s degree in construction engineering in 2010 and coached all student teams.
The contest, held in Nebraska City, Nebraska, October 26-29 attracted more than 160 talented construction engineering students from universities across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Iowa. Students from 13 universities competed in divisions representing areas of the construction engineering industry: commercial, heavy/highway, residential and design/build. During the competition, six-person teams had 18 hours to develop a comprehensive proposal for a mock request for proposals (RFPs). Teams then gave a 20-minute presentation to a panel of industry judges.
The winning commercial division team included seniors Thomas McLoughlin and Lee Yocum, juniors Hannah Pechmann (team captain), Josh Singsank and Justin Wenger and sophomore Russell Whitney. Their goal was to create a mock RFP for the $24.1 million Bergan Mercy Medical Center project, the 62,171 square foot three-story addition is located in Omaha, Nebraska. The three-story addition was added to the top of an existing and functioning hospital, which presented many planning and scheduling challenges.
The team of construction engineering seniors Cole Van Ryswyk (team captain), Taylor Puelz-Burgin and Jacob Schneider; juniors Jordan Einck and Grant Reimers; and sophomore Joe Winter won the heavy/highway division. Their proposal was for the $32.3 million, St. Bernard Parish Hurricane & Storm Damage Risk Reduction System Chalmette Loop Levee, section LPV 145, located in St. Bernard, Louisiana. The project consisted of building a one-mile-long concrete levee wall.
“It taught me how to work as a team and gave me a great opportunity to learn from fellow students on how to build projects,” Van Ryswyk said.
The winners of the residential division were seniors Rachel Rottinghaus (team captain), Logan Brinkman and Terese Ragaller, juniors Blake Carolan and Jace Christensen; and sophomore Michael Donlin. Their project involved an RFP for a residential housing development in Omaha, Nebraska. This included market analysis, a marketing plan, site plan, schedule, construction estimates and financial pro forma. Considerations were made regarding water runoff for the site plan as well as reducing energy consumption on each of the houses.
Rottinghaus said it was “exhilarating and a great experience.”
Design/build category winning team was seniors Lauren Caswell (team captain) and Keagan Johnson, juniors Tom Gorman, Brian Hampel and Trevor Otto; and architecture senior Lindsey Hinni. Their portion of the competition required them to mock RFP for the 24,000-square-foot 47th Brigade Combat Team Dining Facility, a $14,231,776 project located at Fort Carson, Colorado. Students were required to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification standards in their design and construction. The team also produced eight architectural design computer drawings and built a computer generated three-dimensional model within the timeframe.
With Iowa State’s 2009 and 2011 sweep, CCEE student teams have won divisions in the ASC Region IV competition 24 times in the last 10 years.