|
Student Teams Vie in Construction Management Competition
Despite today’s challenging conditions for the housing industry and the economy, NAHB Student Chapters hosted its largest Residential Construction Management Competition ever during last month’s International Builder’s Show (IBS) in Las Vegas.
The annual competition officially began in the fall, giving teams approximately three months to complete a construction project modeled after an actual Centex Homes development in San Antonio, Texas.
The 2008-2009 competition featured 66 teams, in three divisions: four-year universities, two-year colleges and secondary schools. All had to to demonstrate their knowledge of the home building process, from start to finish.
Students submitted their work to the judges prior to the show and spent the final weeks of the competition preparing for their presentations at IBS. For three grueling days, the judges — who were real project members from NAHB-member companies — listened to presentations and challenged the students to defend their work.
The competition culminated on Jan. 21 with an awards ceremony at Caesars Palace attended by more than 1,100 people. Among the winners:
- In the four-year university division, perennial powerhouses again took the stage as Brigham Young University finished first, Middle Tennessee State University took second and California Polytechnic University-San Luis Obispo came in third. Appalachian State University made a strong debut, earning fourth place and rookie of the year honors, while Texas A&M University placed fifth.
- In the two-year college division, Brigham Young University-Idaho returned to the top spot, bumping former champion Pennsylvania College of Technology to second place. Purdue University North Central placed third while John A. Logan College was recognized as rookie of the year.
- The secondary division continued its strong participation with 11 teams. Juneau-Douglas High School came from Alaska to successfully defend its first-place finish from last year, and McPherson High School from McPherson, Kan. and Forbes Road Career and Technology Center from Monroeville, Pa. took second and third place, respectively. Forbes Road was also named rookie of the year.
Placing teams took home cash awards and calculators donated by Calculated Industries, along with team plaques.
In addition, the top three placing teams in each category received individual plaques, and first-place champions flew home with the coveted NAHB Student Chapters divisional trophy and noise cancellation head phones from Sage Timberline.
Teams received custom-designed competition t-shirts and certificates. Plaques, t-shirts and cash awards were made possible by a $25,000 contribution from Centex Homes.
The NAHB Student Chapters program is administered by the Home Builders Institute, the workforce development arm of NAHB.
For more information, e-mail Page Browning at HBI, or call her at 800-795-7955 x8918.
|
