CoSci student teams bring home awards from Dallas competition

Construction proposals for a Dallas middle school and a water treatment plant created by two teams of construction science seniors at Texas A&M yielded first- and second-place finishes at a February competition hosted by two regional construction organizations.

The Texas A&M students competed in the 18 ^th Annual Associated Schools of Construction/TEXO Student Competition sponsored by ASC [Region V] (http://regionv.tamu.edu/) and [TEXO] (http://www.texoassociation.org/) , an organization of North and East Texas general contractors that champions unity and leadership in the construction community.

First place honors when to the Texas A&M team led by Boong Yeol Ryoo, assistant professor of construction science, for its proposal in the competition's heavy/civil division to build a $34 million Dallas water treatment plant.

Another Texas A&M team led by George Eustace and Ron Workman, construction science faculty members, earned second place in the commercial building division for their Dallas middle school construction proposal.

The first place treatment plant proposal was developed by students Karsten Burja, Hyun Chul Chung, Derrick Gastinger, Todd Von Krosigk, Tanner Trimm and John Uhl.

The group was sequestered, as outlined in the contest’s rules, in a Dallas hotel room all day Feb. 10 beginning at 7 a.m. when they received their initial competition packet. They worked until 11:30 p.m. creating a water treatment plant construction proposal that included project scheduling, site excavation, concrete placement and traffic control.

“It was like a 20-hour sprint to complete the proposal,” said team member Todd Von Krosigk. “There was absolutely no down time and no time to sleep. None of us had ever worked on a water treatment plant bid before so it was a real challenge to put together an estimate in that amount of time. It was one of the most challenging things any of us had ever done.”

After submitting their proposal at 11:30 p.m., the team prepared visual aids for their oral presentation to industry professionals slated for 7 a.m. the next day.

“During our presentation we pointed out our mistakes and showed how we fixed them. We were able to track costs and labor to show where our numbers came from,” said Von Krosigk.

At the competition, Von Krosigk accepted an internship offer from competition sponsor [AUI Inc.] (http://www.auiinc.net/) , a construction firm that specializes in heavy/civil construction.

“It’s proof that getting involved in competitions like these can be very rewarding,” said Von Krosigk.

The second place Texas A&M commercial building competition team that developed construction proposals for a $33 million Dallas ISD middle school was composed of Scott Beatty, Patrick Campo, Trevor Dielmann, Chelsey Fisher, Alicia Franco, Eduardo Mata and Colton McCullough.

The commercial building team prepared its proposal while confined to a room in the Langford Architecture Center from 8 a.m. until midnight Saturday, Feb. 9. Outside contact, as outlined in the contest’s rules, was limited to bathroom breaks and food deliveries by team coaches. Internet access was limited to proposal research.

The next day the building team traveled to Dallas and on Feb. 11, they presented their proposals to a panel of industry professionals.

Both Texas A&M competition teams were required to demonstrate skills in cost estimating, bid writing, fielding contract questions, communications, problem-solving and method analysis.

The students’ middle school proposal included staffing information, safety and quality assurance policies, a statement outlining their approach to managing the project’s schedule, cost, safety and quality, a logistics plan for client review and a construction schedule, all adjusted for a very tight construction schedule, said Eustace.

“This was the most balanced of all the competition teams I’ve coached,” he said. “Each student was able to match his or her strengths with the various responsibilities necessary to produce the proposal. They formed a cohesive team that worked well together with a high level of mutual respect for each others’ talents.”

Team member Chelsey Fisher said her professional internship and studies prepared her well to contribute to the team’s efforts.

“The competition demonstrated that Texas A&M construction science students have a bright future is in the industry,” she said.

The commercial building team prepared for the regional competition in a mock contest that replicated the TEXO completion rules. In the faux competition, hosted Jan 18–21 in San Antonio by [Joeris General Contractors] (http://joeris.com/) , students created a proposal for an actual Joeris project. Joeris staffers critiqued the students' proposal and offered tips to improve their presentations in the Dallas competition.

“I can’t give enough credit to the mock contest for helping prepare the team,” said Eustace. “Creating the proposal away from campus in conditions similar to the ASC/TEXO contest created a bond between team members.”