33rd Annual ASC Region 1 Student Competition and Conference (2022)

Date

November 10-12, 2022


Location / Format

This is an in-person event.

Hilton Albany
40 Lodge Street
Albany, NY 12207
Phone: (518) 462-6611
Fax: (518) 462-2901
Hotel Website: www.hiltonalbany.com  

As usual, we have reserved a block of rooms for the competition. Schools and industry partners must coordinate their room reservations with the hotel coordinator using one of the forms below.

Forms must be returned by the registration deadline to Prof. Wayne Sheppard, Pennsylvania College of Technology, (570) 651-3003, .  If colleges / universities / institutions wish to bring additional students and faculty, please indicate the numbers of each category (faculty & Students) and the number of rooms needed in addition to the competing teams at the bottom of the applicable form.


Team / Attendance Registration

Competing schools must use the following online registration form and payment link to sign up teams for their desired category/ies that they will be competing in this year. Make sure you include the pre-qual form that can be downloaded below.

We are also now able to receive payments online through ASC’s payment system ($400/team).

Students, faculty, or industry partners that are interested in only attending the training & presentations portion of the conference, or are faculty that are not coaches for any particular competing team, please register at this link:

Deadline for registration is 4 October 2022.


Corporate Sponsorship

Become a competition sponsor and participate in different ways. See the Partnership and Sponsorship Prospectus for details. Depending on your chosen sponsorship level, this can include:

  • Speaking engagements
  • Display booths
  • Student resume book access
  • Logo display
  • Event attendance
  • and more…

Register as early as possible to reserve your spot – a deadline will also be forthcoming. Once you decide on a sponsorship level, you can submit payment online here:

Please note: When booking room(s) at the Albany Downtown Hilton, please call and mention when booking you are with the ASC event as an industry participant


Competition Schedule and Guidelines

This is a three-day event, from Thursday through Saturday.

  • Thursday: Hotel Arrival
  • Friday: Kick-off Meetings, Workday, Faculty Meetings
  • Saturday: Presentations, Debriefing, Job Fair, Award Ceremony

Following is the detailed event schedule:

Competition Guidelines / Problem Statements:

Competition Rules:

There are four different competition divisions:

  • Commercial sponsored by: Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
  • Design-Build sponsored by: Skanska
  • Pre-Construction sponsored by: Consigli Construction Co.
  • Heavy Civil sponsored by: Flatiron

Participating Schools

The following member schools from ASC Region 1 are competing this year:

SchoolCommercialDesign-BuildHeavy-CivilPre-Con
Alfred StateXX
CCSUXX
Clarkson UniversityXX
DrexelXX
FarmingdaleX
NorwichXXX
NYUX
Penn CollegeXX
RITXX
Roger WilliamsXXX
SUNY DelhiXX
UMass AmherstXX
Vermont Tech. CollegeXX
WentworthXX
Totals93106

2022 Winners

Preconstruction (sponsored by: Consigli)

  • 1st – Clarkson
  • 2nd – UMass Amherst
  • 3rd – Penn College

Design-Build (sponsored by: Skanska)

  • 1st – SUNY Alfred
  • 2nd – SUNY Farmingdale
  • 3rd – Roger Williams

Heavy-Civil (sponsored by: Flatiron)

  • 1st – Clarkson
  • 2nd – Penn College
  • 3rd – Drexel

Commercial (sponsored by: Whiting-Turner)

  • 1st – Roger Williams
  • 2nd – Wentworth
  • 3rd – Drexel

Judges and Sponsors

See sidebar


Presentations

Friday, November 11th

1:00-2:00 pm:

International Education Experiences – A how to guide for faculty

Christine Fiori, Program Director, Construction Management, Drexel University

The session is designed to promote educational experiences for construction students in an international setting. Specifically, the session will address approaches for faculty to engage with a partner organization, how to structure a learning experience and environment, fundraise and engage industry collaboration and support for international projects.   The session will also highlight lessons learned from over a decade of international service-learning trips with students and industry.

Learning Objectives

  • Define a process for building an international educational experience
  • Understand the challenges associated with international education
  • Identify learning outcomes of an international educational experience
  • Apply lessons learned from previous international educational experiences

Presenter Bio

Christine Fiori is the Program Director and Professor of Construction Management at Drexel University. She has led service-learning trips for students in locations throughout the world to include Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Peru, Kenya and Vietnam partnering with non-profits such as Peacework and Bridges to Prosperity.

2:00-3:00 pm:

10 Strategies from Lessons Learned for Successfully Implementing BIM in Small Markets

Kenneth Medling, VDC Manager, Shiel Sexton

The implantation of the Building Information Modeling procedures within the construction industry has slowly trickled down from massive mega projects, managed by top tier contractor managers, to super small projects, managed by local construction managers, utilizing small mom and pop contractors. This disruption in the delivery of projects has been both successful and disastrous. Developed from the experience of constructing over a half a billion dollars from multiple projects covering various buildings types, this presenter has taken ten (10) lessons learned and created strategies for successfully implementing BIM in small markets.

Learning Objectives

  • Identify areas within the BIM process that can be improved upon with increased communication, common understanding, or redefining the desired outcome
  • Revaluate current methods and reactions by asking better questions
  • Integrate improved strategies into current Building Information Modeling Execution Plans to eliminate communication gaps, enhance collaboration, and define success
  • Construct achievable objectives with improved approaches to common deficiencies among all trades

Presenter Bio

Ken Meding is currently a Virtual Design Construction Manager for Shiel Sexton, he is also an Adjunct instructor for Clarkson University and Ivy Tech Community College. Ken Meding has presented at multiple conferences on BIM related topics including the development of 4D Safety Planning. He has over 10 years of BIM experience in the construction industry with over 1/2 a billion dollars of installed work.

3:00-4:00 pm:

Emotional Intelligence and the Construction Industry

Christine Fiori, Program Director, Construction Management, Drexel University

The session seeks to explore the concept of emotional intelligence through interactive exercises and personal reflection.  Construction is a relationship driven industry and developing the capacity to recognize, control and positively express one’s emotions improves the functioning of all relationships both professional and personal.   Emotional intelligence is an essential leadership tool and is a critical skill for career success. The session will also identify exercises and tools to use in the classroom to integrate emotional intelligence in the classroom.

Learning Objectives

  • Define emotional intelligence
  • Understand the impact of emotional intelligence on relationships
  • Identify emotions that influence leadership success
  • Develop steps to improve emotional intelligence

Presenter Bio

Christine Fiori is the Program Director and Professor of Construction Management at Drexel University. She has developed leadership workshops that center on emotional intelligence as a key communication tool and delivered this material to trades, construction professionals and construction management students.  She is a civil engineer with over 25 years of teaching experience in the construction management discipline and has held positions at both Arizona State and Virginia Tech.

Saturday, November 12th

11:00 am – 12:00 pm:

Bridge Design at NYSDOT 

Brenda Crudele, Director Structures Design NYSDOT

The presentation is geared towards college students looking to learn about what it is like to work in the Structures Design Office at NYSDOT. Bridge types and design will be discussed, and examples of specific projects will be covered. This includes the emergency response for the bridge hit on Sitterly Road over I87 in Clifton Park and NYSDOT’s first Model Based Contracting project where 3D models were used as the legal contract document instead of 2D plans.

Learning Objectives:

  • To understand what type of bridge design projects NYSDOT is responsible for with its own staff.
  • To understand how you can become eligible to work for NYSDOT for a permanent position.
  • To understand how you can become eligible to work for NYSDOT for an internship.
  • To understand what newly hired designers will be responsible for and how they will be trained.

Presenter Bio:

Brenda Crudele is the Director of the Structures Design Bureau at NYSDOT. She oversees in-house bridge design projects throughout the state, is involved with the BridgeNY program, and has been involved with many accelerated design and construction bridge projects. She has been employed by NYSDOT for 20 years. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from Clarkson University, Master’s Degree in Structural Engineering from Lehigh University, and is a registered professional engineer in New York State. She is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of New York, who has 20 years of experience designing and managing bridge projects.

1:00-2:00 pm:

NYC Megaprojects – Day in the Life of a Project Engineer

Tarah Driver, Carlos Gonzalez, & Dan Raleigh of Skanska

Having worked on both LaGuardia Airport and Penn Station within the first two years of their careers, Tarah Driver, Carlos Gonzalez, & Dan Raleigh will share their typical day and some actionable tips for new hires and entry level positions.

Learning Objectives:

  • Experiential learning
  • Soft skills development
  • Communication on the jobsite
  • Safety-forward thinking

Presenter Bio:

Tarah Driver (she/her/hers) is a project engineer with Skanska USA Building. Driver has worked on projects ranging from $34M to $4B in New York, San Francisco, and Honolulu. Currently at the New York Penn Station Long Island Railroad Concourse widening project, she manages MEPFP trades while keeping the station active for its 600,000+ daily passengers. Driver is passionate about increasing student exposure opportunities to the construction industry & volunteers as an ACE Mentor. She is an NYU Tandon alumna (BS Civil Engineering ’20, MS Civil Engineering ’22) and lives in Brooklyn, NY. She is a current project engineer who serves as a mentor to new hires

Carlos Gonzalez is a project engineer with Skanska USA Building. He has worked in estimating and pursuits of both historical renovations and new constructions ranging from $50M to $250M in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. Additionally, he has spent most of his construction field career at LaGuardia’s new Terminal A and Long Island Rail Road’s new office build out at Penn Station, NY. Currently, he manages the MEPFP trades while coordinating extensively with the owner, tenants, and other major NY contractors. Carlos is passionate about bettering infrastructure in underrepresented international communities, and he is active in Engineers Without Borders. He is a graduate of Rutgers School of Engineering and currently lives in New Jersey. He is a current project engineer who serves as a mentor to new hires

2:00-3:00 pm:

Mean to Lean

Sam Spata, Design Manager, Exyte Group

Overview of Lean Project Controls course with textbook preview

Learning Objectives

  • Context of Lean Capital Project Delivery
  • Framework for Learning and Doing
  • Lean as System and Culture
  • Building Trust

Presenter Bio

Sam Spata is a registered architect with 3 decades executive experience in capital project delivery. His international experience includes a range of delivery modes, from Design-Bid-Build to Public-Private-Partnerships. Sam has applied Lean practice in his daily work for more than a dozen years. Prior to joining Exyte in 2019, his consulting practice – Method Lean – provided Lean training and facilitation for designers, constructors and owners, including Diller Scofidio + Renfro; Industrious Office; and, the Pennsylvania Department of General Services. Exyte is a global leader in design, engineering and construction delivering high-tech facilities. Since project start in November 2019, Sam Spata has been the Design Manager for the Cree Mohawk Valley Wafer Fab located in Utica, NY. Sam has delivered Lean lectures for the international video network of Columbia University; carried on Coursera. In 2020, he joined Clarkson University as an Adjunct Professor, teaching a graduate course in Lean Project Controls. Sam developed The Lean Progression© in order to accelerate learning of Lean practices in support of the 5 processes each project must get right: Goal-Setting; Scheduling; Budgeting; Problem-Solving; and, Decision-Making.