UMass Student Team Places Eighth at National Competition

UMass Student Team Places Eighth at National Competition

The 2023 National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student Competition for four-year programs was held at the 2023 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 31 - Feb. 2, 2023. The UMass NAHB Student Chapter team placed 8th in the competition. The mission of the NAHB four-year student competition is to expose students to an in-depth residential construction project from concept to closing. Using real projects, students compete with other schools as they display their problem-solving abilities and learn more about homebuilding. This year’s competition team included 14 students from the BCT program, the Department of Architecture, and the Isenberg School of Management. During the Fall semester, the students worked on developing a business proposal that included market analysis, product design, construction management, project management, financial and risk analysis, and sustainability related to a property in La Plata, MD. The students traveled to Las Vegas and presented their proposal to the judges and attended the International Builders’ Show, which is the housing industry’s...
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Pre-Construction Student Team Takes Second Place in 2022 ASC Competition

Pre-Construction Student Team Takes Second Place in 2022 ASC Competition

As in years past, BCT participated in the 2022 Annual Associated Schools of Construction Region 1 Student Competition in Albany, NY this past weekend with two teams. Under Prof. Romero's expert mentoring and with several months of hard work behind them, the Pre-Construction Team (shown in the image above) took home a stellar second place in the pre-construction category. This was only the third year in which our students competed in this competition. We congratulate the team members for this superb effort! The pre-construction team consisted of Patrick Koenen (Project Manager), Jocey Krooks, Erica Marschke, Cody McCreanor, Aidan McSheffrey, and Daniel Smith. The commercial construction team - which placed fifth this year - consisted of William Harmelink (Project Manager), Mark Carstairs, Jillian Contois, John McKinnon, Tali Shoham, and Hiram Tatis. Gallery Links ASC Region 1 website ...
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UMass Student AGC Group Wins Outstanding Emerging Chapter Award

UMass Student AGC Group Wins Outstanding Emerging Chapter Award

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) national organization has announced that the AGC Student Chapter at UMass Amherst has earned the Outstanding Emerging Student Chapter Award. The judges for the 2021 AGC Outstanding Student Chapter Contest said they were impressed with the obstacles the UMass chapter overcame, as well as the growth documented in its application. The UMass Student AGC Chapter flourished this year under the leadership of its president, undergraduate Nathaniel Wright of the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department, and its faculty co-advisors, CEE professor Scott A. Civjan and BCT professor Fernando Romero. This team initiated a full schedule of events for both the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, despite being remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter hosted two virtual construction site tours, OSHA-10 Training for 47 student participants, multiple guest lectures, and multiple chapter meetings. The chapter also developed a club website containing event information, blog posts, resources, and event summaries. Beyond that, the officers overcame the fact that none of them...
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Student Team Places Third in ASC Region 1 Competition

Student Team Places Third in ASC Region 1 Competition

BCT participated in the 2021 Annual Associated Schools of Construction Region 1 Student Competition in Albany, NY with three teams this November. Under Prof. Romero's mentoring and with several months of hard work behind them, Team "Amherst Construction" (shown in the image above) placed third in the pre-construction category. This was only the second year in which our students competed in this competition. We congratulate the team members for this superb effort! The team consisted of: Olivia Josias (Project Manager), Patrick Koenen (Superintendent), Emma Kelly (Senior Estimator), Jocey Krooks (Risk Manager), Eric Lee (Senior Scheduler), Michael Ayles (Safety & Quality Manager). Links: ASC Region 1 website Pictures from the competition ...
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Awards Abound for NAHB Student Chapter in this Year’s Residential Construction Competition

Awards Abound for NAHB Student Chapter in this Year’s Residential Construction Competition

Our UMass NAHB student chapter just capped off the most successful year in its history. In this year's NAHB Student Competition, in which teams have to create a proposal for a housing development, the UMass team came in 8th place. This was the highest the chapter has ever placed. In the proposal, the UMass team had to create a site plan, construction schedules and estimates, a sales and marketing strategy along with a detailed financial analysis of the project. Additionally, the UMass chapter was awarded 2nd place for the Outstanding Student Chapter Award. The NAHB Outstanding Student Chapter Award recognizes NAHB student chapters at schools that go the extra mile to engage with their local HBA, the community, and student body of their schools. The strong relationship between HBRAWM and the UMass chapter was a major factor for this award. The members of this year’s team included Hunter Apteker, George Boccelli, Hayden Cantoni, David Ibrahim, Robson Stewart, and Winnie Wang (see also image...
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