Kansas State University

Building victory: Design-build, commercial construction teams place highly in student competition

Submitted by Communications & Marketing

Kansas State University's student design-build teams and commercial construction team earned top four finishes at the 20th annual Construction Management Student Competition for Region IV of the Associated Schools of Construction. The event was in Nebraska City, Neb., Oct. 24-27, and included 26 teams from seven states.

The university's teams, from the College of Engineering, competed in two of the event's four divisions: design-build and commercial. For the competition, all the teams used actual design parameters from projects that have been or are currently under construction. The overall intent was to place students in real-life project management situations.

Kansas State University's design-build teams earned second- and third-place finishes in the design-build division, while the commercial construction team finished fourth in its division. The design-build team was coached by Ray Buyle, assistant professor of architectural engineering and construction management, while the construction management team was coached by Eric Bartholomew, also an assistant professor of architectural engineering and construction management.

"The first day of the competition is the most intense, with each six-person team sequestered for 18 hours -- from the time they receive the problem statement at 6 a.m. until they turn in their solution at midnight," Buyle said. "The second day is spent preparing and presenting an oral presentation of their problem solution to a panel of construction industry representatives."

The judging panel reviewed and graded the team proposals, which included the team’s plans for managing and constructing the project.

Students involved in the competition and their team included:

Paul Bird, senior in construction science and management, Auburn, commercial construction team; Kelly Essley, senior in construction science and management, Baxter Springs, commercial construction team; Garrett Crane, senior in construction science and management, Chapman, design-build third-place team; Wade Adams, senior in construction science and management, Concordia, design-build third-place team.

From Greater Kansas City: Patrick Houlehan, junior in construction science and management, design-build second-place team, and Matthew Johnson, senior in construction science and management, design-build second-place team, both from Leawood; Shane Evans, senior in construction and management, Lenexa, design-build third-place team; Todd Blackburn, senior in architectural engineering, Overland Park, design-build third-place team.

Kyle Montoya, senior in construction science and management, Holyrood, commercial construction team; Ryan Lund, junior in construction science and management, Leonardville, design-build third-place team; Brandon Brinker, senior in construction science and management, Seneca, commercial construction team; Ryan Stockman, senior in construction science and management, Tonganoxie, commercial construction team; Matthew Dodge, senior in construction science and management, design-build second-place team, and Noe Turrubiartes, senior in construction science and management, design-build second-place team, both from Topeka; and Chad Jamison, senior in construction science and management, Wakeeney, commercial construction team.

From out of state:

Will Kiser, junior in construction science and management, Grand Junction, Colo., design-build second-place team; Kevin Collette, senior in construction science and management, Palisade, Colo., design-build third-place team; and Brian Schrotenboer, senior in construction science and management, Wildwood, Mo., design-build second-place team.