Source: Blythe Vogt, 785-532-3559, bvogt@k-state.edu
Note to editor: Andrew Bridges is a graduate of Olathe East High School, and Sean Kolich is a graduate of Olathe South High School.
News release prepared by: Rosie Hoefling, 785-532-2535, media@k-state.edu

Friday, April 30, 2010

FOUR K-STATE STUDENT TEAMS PLACE IN A NATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE COMPETITION

MANHATTAN -- Four Kansas State University student teams recently achieved national success in an Architectural Engineering Institute competition.

K-State teams placed in the top three in multiple categories of the institute's annual Charles Pankow Foundation Architectural Engineering Student Design Competition.

K-State took first in both the integrated systems design category and the electrical and lighting systems design category, and second and third places in the mechanical systems design category.

The K-State teams were selected as finalists for the competition in March and competed at the institute's national student conference, April 9-10, in Kansas City, Mo. The student teams presented their projects to a panel of judges at the conference.

Winning teams received a cash prize based on their overall finish in the competition, with first place receiving $1,000, and second and third places receiving $400.

According to Blythe Vogt, K-State instructor of architectural engineering and construction science and faculty adviser to the K-State teams, the competition required student teams to address the design aspects of a medical clinic that would be constructed to support an underserved community. As an added difficulty, the medical clinic would be located in a historic warehouse district with part of the current exterior structure remaining intact. Design categories included structural systems; building envelope; mechanical, plumbing and fire protection systems; and electrical and lighting systems.

Vogt said K-State team members had to submit a 50-page report for their specified design category, summarizing each component to their solution. The event was designed to challenge students in the areas of collaboration, competition and peer review, all of which will be part of their future careers.

"This was a voluntary competition and the students who stepped up to compete worked extremely hard to produce excellent written submittals and oral presentations," Vogt said. "This is a great testament to the quality of our students and of their education from the faculty in K-State's architectural engineering program."

K-State students, all architectural engineering majors, taking part in the competition, their team and honors include:

Weston Arbogast, senior, Dodge City, mechanical systems design category, third place; Brett Crask, senior, Girard, first place as a member of both the integrated systems design category team and electrical and lighting systems design category team.

From Greater Kansas City: Emily Long, senior, Lenexa, first place as a member of both the integrated systems design category team and the electrical and lighting systems design category team; Sean Kolich, senior, Olathe, mechanical systems design category, third place; Alison Foree, senior, Overland Park, first place as a member of the integrated systems design category team; Ian Hartsig, senior, Overland Park, project manager and first place as a member of the integrated systems design category team and second place as a member of the mechanical systems design team.

Andrew Bridges, senior and project manager, Manhattan, mechanical systems design category, third place.

From out of state: Kaitlin Page, senior, Evergreen, Colo.; mechanical systems design category, third place; Benjamin Hollon, senior, Liberty, Mo., mechanical systems design category, third place; and Andrew Sneed, senior, St. Louis, Mo., first place as a member of the integrated systems design category team, and second place as a member of the mechanical systems design category team.