A Publication for the faculty, staff, administrators and friends of California State University, Chico
March. 10, 2005 Volume 35 / Number 5

Construction Management Takes Honors at Reno Competition

Construction Management students took home impressive honors at the 18th Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Management Competition Feb. 2-5 in Reno.

Chico teams garnered a second place in the National Mechanical Competition, a second place in the Commercial Building and a third place in the Design/Build division of the regional championship.

Teams in the Heavy Civil and Residential divisions also competed. Construction Management faculty Denny Gier, Willem Kymmell, Mark Maybee. Lori Dixon and Chris Souder coached the teams.

"Just placing is an honor in its own right, and coming home with a national second place and a regional second and third place in the four regional events is exceptional," said Tom Heustis, chair of the Depart-ment of Construction Management.

During the grueling competition, students are given 24 hours to map out the process a construction firm would go through-work schedules, bids and other tasksÑon an actual construction project, then present their work to expert judges.

Twenty-five universities competed in the competition, including Stanford University, Oregon State University, the University of Washington and the University of Southern California.

This is the first time in Chico's history that the Construction Management Department has sponsored a mechanical team. "It is very tough for a rookie team to compete, let alone place 2nd in this National Competition," said Denny Gier, advisor to the team.

"This year, the ASC sponsors shook up the deck by changing the character of all of the problems the teams had to solve," said Heustis. "These changes resulted in some bright new faces on the winner's platform. I think it's wonderful that teams from several schools, like Chico State, that stood on the 1st place platform, are busy retooling. A great competitionÑit definitely mirrors the ever-changing challenges facing the construction industry."