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Students and faculty in the Building and Construction Technology (BCT) program, offered through the College of Natural Sciences Department of Environmental Conservation, recently represented the university at two prominent competitions recognized in the construction industry.
Senior lecturers Fernando Romero and Ho-Sung Kim, who is also BCT chief undergraduate advisor, accompanied teams of UMass Amherst students to the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Competition and the Annual National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student Competition held in during the fall and early spring semesters.
The Annual National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student Competition is one of the highlights of the NAHB International Builders’ Show that “gives students the opportunity to apply skills learned in the classroom to a real construction company by completing a management project/proposal.” Proposals are judged by construction company professionals and executives.
This year, a team of five students from the BCT program, the Department of Architecture, and the Isenberg School of Management attended the Feb. 24-25 competition in Las Vegas competing in the Custom/Small Build category.
This category “exposes students to a small-scale residential construction project from concept to closing,” Kim explained. “Teams identify a home building opportunity in a specific geographic area, focusing on the best opportunity for a small builder to be successful and grow their business.”
The UMass team placed sixth, improving from seventh place last year.
The Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Competition, held last November in Albany, N.Y., seeks to “prepare the next generation of construction industry leaders for the rapid and exciting challenges that [builders] will face in the immediate future.” In addition to the regional competition, the ASC also hosts a career fair, allowing students to interview for full-time jobs or internships.
A team of six from the BCT program competed in the ASC Northeast Region, which includes colleges and universities that offer four-year degrees in construction engineering and management in from Maine to Virginia.
“The ASC Competition can provide a non-traditional learning environment for students and enhance their learning,” Romero said. “As an educator, the BCT team and I have supported the benefits of participation in intercollegiate competitions. Many students in the U.S. have various opportunities for intercollegiate students’ competition to apply their knowledge of real-world problems.”
UMass Amherst teams traditionally compete in one or more of the five categories—Commercial, Pre-Construction, Design-Build, Heavy Civil and Open (Concrete).
For the competition, Romero explained that teams have no previous knowledge of the documents that describe each competition’s “problem statement.” After first receiving the statement, competing teams are given 20 hours to work on creating answers and solutions to the problem. Proposals are submitted to a group of construction company executives, who serve as judges. During the competition, students defend their proposals to the judges in front of an audience.
Romero recalls the first UMass Amherst participation was in 2019 and they placed last. But the university improved its standing with increased investment. In 2020, during the pandemic, students placed sixth place and in 2021, Romero created the course ASC Competition (BCT 392C) to prepare the students formally and achieved third place. This upward placement continued in 2022 when they came in second place; and in 2023, the BCT team came in first place in the Pre-Construction category. In November 2024, they placed fourth in the Commercial category.
“My main objective in participating in the ASC Competition is to enable students to integrate the knowledge gained from the BCT undergrad program,” Romero said.
For more information, visit the College of Natural Sciences news website.
