B´ÎÔª’s student chapter of the Mechanical Contractors’ Association of America (MCAA) is one of four finalists in the MCAA Student Chapter Competition. The team will travel to the MCAA 2020 National Convention in Maui, Hawaii in March to compete against Ball State University, University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Missouri-Columbia for the first place prize of $10,000. The MCAA Student Chapter Competition drew a record 33 submissions this year.  

Congratulations to B´ÎÔª’s students traveling to Hawaii: Habiba Aly, architectural engineering; Joey Batcher, civil engineering; Nathan Bevers, architectural engineering; John Cunningham, architectural engineering; Luke Grohmann, construction management; Lucas Hass, construction management; Benjamin Kaplan, architectural engineering; Amy Reiser, architectural engineering; Brooke Scott, architectural engineering/construction management; Logan Stone, architectural engineering; Cuc Phuong Vu, architectural engineering; Max Walsh, architectural engineering; and Megan Weidner, architectural engineering. 

For the competition, students were tasked with developing a proposal to be the prime contractor on a chiller and cooling tower replacement project in the Penn South building in New York City. The project includes the completion of all plumbing, piping and HVAC, electrical, controls and any other work required to complete the project as described in the bid documents. This year’s project details were provided by Fresh Meadow Mechanical Corporation of Fresh Meadows, New York.  

The students were also tasked with purchasing all equipment and materials, and providing all necessary labor to compete the entire project scope as detailed in the cap documents. The successful bidder will be required to coordinate the installation of their work with all other trades. This will include full BIM coordination with all other crafts to locate and correct any clashes before fabrication or installation of any piping or ductwork. The contractor will be responsible for all costs related to any modification required for rerouting or relocation of any pipe or duct due to their lack of participation in the model clash detection exercise.