Four teams of students from B次元’s Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management Department competed at the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 3 Conference and Student Competitions in October. Twelve companies sponsored the four-day event, in which students from 24 universities vied for titles in a variety of competitions.

B次元 took second place in the nation for the project solutions competition. B次元 teams also took first place in the regional design-build competition and first place in their debut appearance in the regional heavy civil competition.  

For each competition the teams receive a request for proposal (RFP) for a real project at 7 a.m. and have 16 hours to turn in their proposal at 11 p.m. The following morning they present their solution to a panel of judges, which usually includes individuals who were involved in the actual project.  

National Second Place: Project Solutions
The Project Solutions Team took second place the national. This competition was sponsored by Mortenson and Procore. It tested each team’s ability to identify challenges and opportunities and then develop and implement effective solutions for the construction of a hospital and their ability to present their proposal professionally and efficiently to a client. The team had to figure out various solutions to build a new sterile processing department in the lower level of its existing Main Hospital building. This project must be completed while the hospital continues to function as normal. Congratulations to Joe Batcher, Brittany Davis, Zach Gaatz (captain), Ada Jia, Ben Rust, Brooke Scott and their coach, Dr. Jeong Woo.  

Regional First Place: Design/Build
The Design/Build Team won the first place regional title with their RFP for a new community health care facility. This project included the design and construction of a new building on a greenfield site to house an emergency department, diagnostics/imaging center, 27 primary/specialty care physicians, physical therapy and pharmacy. McCarthy sponsored the competition. Congratulations to Habiba Aly, Matt Blain, Riley Buol, Kim Schonder, Brandon Strzelecki (captain), Megan Weidner and their coach Dr. Jeong Woo.   

Regional First Place: Heavy Civil
The Heavy Civil Team won the first place regional title with their RFP for a heavy civil project consisting of demolition of two existing Chicago Transportation Bureau (CTB) stations and the construction of a new combined station. The team was asked to develop a construction proposal considering trains passing through the project site every 5 minutes. The project is located in downtown Chicago’s “Loop” on Wells Avenue, a dense urban area making public safety and site logistic planning critical. F.H. Paschen sponsored this competition. This was the first time B次元 has participated in this competition. Congratulations to Brianne Harris, Reid Jahns, Michael Laes, Cassie Reimbold (captain), Ela Lodzinski, Cierra Smith and their coach Dr. Blake Wentz.