2025

9th ANNUAL

CAWP Student Estimating Competition

CAWP hosted the 9th Annual CAWP Student Estimating Competition February 20 – 22, 2025. Eleven teams from seven universities participated in this competition, which was developed to showcase the benefits and opportunities the heavy-highway construction industry has to offer. It was an exciting two days with teams from Bucknell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State University – Harrisburg, Penn State University – University Park, University of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and West Virginia University participating in the competition. 

Prior to the competition kick-off, the student teams received initial competition instructions and information on Thursday night. On Friday, the teams were given pre-job documents and attended a pre-bid meeting. The teams then spent the day preparing their bids and schedule. There was a race to the finish as teams submitted their bids at 5:00 p.m. and their supporting documents at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, the teams were allotted 25 minutes to present their process and an explanation of how they arrived at their final bid to a panel of judges. Students also had the opportunity to attend a career fair and industry presentations after they completed their presentations. At the end of the day, scores from both the actual bid and the presentation were combined to determine the winning teams of the competition.  

COMPETITION PHOTOS STUDENT RESUME BOOK

PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES

2025 CAWP Estimating Competition Champions

Penn State University- University Park

Beam Team, Inc.

2nd Place

University of Pittsburgh

Benedum Builders

Competition Teams

Bucknell University

Bison Bidders 

Carnegie Mellon University

Dollars & Dirt Crew

Carnegie Mellon University

The Crunch Bunch

Penn State University, University Park

Beam Team, Inc.

Penn State University, University Park

You Can’t CE Me

Penn State University, Harrisburg

PSPEC 1

Penn State University, Harrisburg

PSPEC 2

University of Pittsburgh

Benedum Builders

University of Pittsburgh

Pitt Pavers

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

UPJ Premier Estimators

West Virginia University

Gold Standard Bidders

THANK YOU

OUR TEAM ADVISORS

Bucknell University 

Italo Merante, A. Merante Contracting., Inc. 

Brian Grayburn, Tyler Keiser, Trumbull Corporation 

 

Carnegie Mellon University 

Ryan Vaz, PJ Dick 

 

Penn State University – University Park 

Evan Ring, Brayman Construction Corporation 

Brett Fellers, Kaden McGregor,  Advantage Steel & Construction 

 

Penn State University – Harrisburg 

John Maffeo, Paul Boggs, Trumbull Corporation  

 

University of Pittsburgh 

Joe Neubert, Tony Colella, Independence Excavating 

Kurt Karanovich, Kokosing Industrial 

 

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown 

Josh Fetcko, Scott Thompson, Gulisek Construction 

Juliah Seymour, Fay S&B USA Construction 

 

West Virginia University 

Kurt Karanovich, Kokosing Industrial 

THANK YOU

OUR JUDGES

Thank you to the following competition judges for volunteering their time and expertise to evaluate the student teams in their presentations. 

Erik Bertrand, Mosites Construction Company 

Paul Hartley, Fay S&B USA 

Russ Hathaway, Michael Facchiano Contracting, Inc. 

Eric Klimas, Golden Triangle Construction  

Rich Mannarino, Brayman Construction Corporation 

David Redd, Trumbull Corporation 

Frank Zottola, Independence Excavating, Inc. 

SPECIAL THANKS 

Thank you to Jason Sinay, The Beaver Excavating Company for providing one of Beaver Excavating’s jobs for the student teams to bid on. 

Thank you to Katie Banks, Trumbull Corporation for preparing the vast amount of competition materials needed for the teams to compete, as well as assisting behind the scenes in the preparation leading up to the competition. 

Thank you to Matt Griffiths, Francis J. Palo, Inc. for assisting in the compilation and calculation of the competition scoring. 

A special thank you to Kevin Duris, Trumbull Corporation for leading the planning, preparation, and execution of the competition and being an invaluable resource to the Association.