CAWP Student Estimating Competition

CAWP hosted the 3rd Annual CAWP Student Estimating Competition at the Regional Learning Alliance. Nine teams from five 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 Carnegie Mellon University, Penn State University – University Park, Penn State University – Harrisburg, University of Pittsburgh, and University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown participating in the competition.

The competition began with the student teams receiving initial competition instructions and information on Thursday night when they arrived. 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 at the bid box as the teams arrived to turn in their bid packages before the 5:00 p.m. deadline. On day two, the teams were allotted 30 minutes to present their process and an explanation of how they arrived at their final bid to a panel of judges. While not presenting to the judges, the student teams were invited to participate in a career fair and industry presentations provided by several CAWP members. 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.

Erik Bertrand, Mosites Construction Company

Geoff Clarke, Swank Construction Company

Justin Fox, Independence Excavating, Inc.

Russ Hathaway, Michael Facchiano Contracting, Inc.

Chris Konopka, Mascaro Contracting, LP

Rich Mannarino, Brayman Construction Corporation

Jim Wilkinson

Carnegie Mellon University
Kevin Duris and Patrick Garrett, Trumbull Corporation

Penn State University – University Park
Evan Ring, Brayman Construction Corporation

Penn State University – Harrisburg
Paul Boggs, Trumbull Corporation

University of Pittsburgh
Kurt Karanovich, Bryan Frye, Sylvia Sun, Joseph B. Fay Co.
Joe Neubert and Frank Zottola, Independence Excavating, Inc.

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
Josh Fetcko, Brian Miller, Brennan Smay, Plum Contracting, Inc.

Thank you to Justin Fox and Joe Neubert from Independence Excavating, Inc. 
for selecting one of Independence Excavating, Inc.’s jobs for the student teams to bid on, and for presenting the project to the teams and judges.

Thank you to Katie Banks from 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 Kevin Duris from Trumbull Corporation for providing his technical expertise in the preparation and execution of the competition.

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

Evan Ring, Brayman Construction Corporation

Mike Reiber, Golden Triangle Construction

Mark Raketich, Trumbull Corporation / Lindy Paving, Inc. / Gulisek Construction LLC

Geoff Clarke, Swank Construction Company

Josh Fetcko, Plum Contracting, Inc.

Joe Neubert, Independence Excavating, Inc.

Jason Sinay, C. H. & D. Enterprises, Inc.

Evan Ring, Brayman Construction Corporation

Jarid Antonio, Tunstall Engineering Group

John Nemmer & Pat Garrett, Trumbull Corporation

Joe Neubert, Independence Excavating, Inc.

Josh Fetcko & Brian Westrom, Plum Contracting, Inc.

Rich Barcaskey, CAWP