JBU construction management students take second in regional competition

Photo submitted John Brown University construction management students recently competed in the Associated Schools of Construction Region 5 annual competition in Dallas. Pictured (from left) are JBU freshman Kyle Beardsley, who received a scholarship from TEXO foundation; and construction management students Bryan Harmon, Peter Choi, Emiley Hegel, Ethan Bolthouse, Brendan Culp and Phillip Braun, who received second place in the commercial building category.
Photo submitted John Brown University construction management students recently competed in the Associated Schools of Construction Region 5 annual competition in Dallas. Pictured (from left) are JBU freshman Kyle Beardsley, who received a scholarship from TEXO foundation; and construction management students Bryan Harmon, Peter Choi, Emiley Hegel, Ethan Bolthouse, Brendan Culp and Phillip Braun, who received second place in the commercial building category.

John Brown University construction management students received second place in the commercial building category at the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 5 annual competition in Dallas, sponsored by TEXO. University teams in this category were asked to develop a construction project proposal primarily for a public or private building and make a formal team presentation to a panel of construction professionals.

"This competition tests university students' ability to solve problems that construction management professionals deal with in the real world," Mark Terrill, assistant professor of construction management and team coach, said. "We are thankful to the ASC and TEXO for the opportunity to compete, but most importantly, we are proud of our students' performance."

For this year's project, teams had to develop costs, work schedules, subcontractor bids, specifications and plans to resolve potential quality or safety issues for Mirmar Development Center in Irving, Texas, that was built four years ago. Once teams received the project specifications, they had 16 hours to complete their project and prepare a presentation before traveling to Dallas to present in front of judges. Judges evaluated teams on the overall feasibility of their plans, safety proposals and the quality of their presentations.

JBU senior Emiley Hegel won Best Presenter in the commercial category and freshman Kyle Beardsley received a scholarship from the TEXO foundation.

"I am so proud of the work we did to get there," Hegel said. "We are the smallest school that participates in this competition, which can be intimidating at times, but the construction management program at JBU trains us well to be able to work professionally in the construction environment."

Texas A&M University (College Station, Texas) placed first and University of Oklahoma (Norman, Oklahoma) took third. Other universities represented were Texas A&M Commerce, Texas State University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Texas Tech University. In 2016, JBU construction management program had a team place first in both the commercial building and heavy civil divisions.

John Brown University is a leading private Christian university, training students to honor God and serve others since 1919. Arkansas' top-ranked regional university (U.S. News Best Colleges, 2018), JBU enrolls more than 2,500 students from 41 states and 50 countries in its traditional undergraduate, graduate, online and concurrent education programs. JBU offers more than 40 majors, with top programs including business administration, graphic design, engineering, construction management, counseling, teacher education and nursing.

General News on 03/11/2018