4th ANNUAL CAWP ESTIMATING COMPETITION

February 6 – 8, 2020

CAWP hosted the 4th 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.

1st PLACE TEAM

Benedum Builders

University of Pittsburgh

left to right: Paul Amicucci, Anthony Ganson, Russell Jacobs, Mason Hill, Patrick Schorr. Brandon McDermott, not pictured.

2nd PLACE TEAM

The Brain Storm Troopers

University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

left to right: Jedidiah Elam, Juliah Seymour, Isabelle Macioce, Katherine Bolden, Hayley Caretti, Yoichiro Furukawa

TEAM ADVISORS

Thank you to the following team advisors, who put in weeks of work behind the scenes and with the student teams in preparation for this event.

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, Fay, an i+iconUSA Company

Joe Neubert and Frank Zottola, Independence Excavating, Inc.

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

COMPETITION JUDGES

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

Geoff Clarke, Swank Construction Company

Justin Fox, Independence Excavating, Inc.

Russ Hathaway, Michael Facchiano Contracting, Inc.

Harry Hardman, Trumbull Corporation

Chris Konopka, Mascaro Contracting, LP

Rich Mannarino, Brayman Construction Corporation

Jim Wilkinson

CAREER FAIR

Thank you to the following contractor members who participated in the career fair during the competition.

Josh Fetcko, Brian Miller, Brian Westrom, Plum Contracting, Inc.

Nate Miller, Eurovia Atlantic Coast, LLC

Joe Neubert, Independence Excavating, Inc.

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

Mike Reiber, Golden Triangle Construction

Evan Ring, Brayman Construction Corporation

Justin Smith, Swank Construction Company

Eric Steele, A. Merante Contracting, Inc.

INFORMATIVE SESSIONS

Thank you to the following industry representatives for providing informative sessions for the students to attend during their down time during the final day of competition.

Jarid Antonio, Tunstall Engineering Group

Josh Fetcko & Brian Westrom, Plum Contracting, Inc.

Joe Neubert, Independence Excavating, Inc.

Dan Watson, Brayman Construction Corporation

Justin Smith, Swank Construction Company, LLC