MSOE took home first place in the Preconstruction, Electrical and Heavy Civil divisions at this year’s Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 3 Competition in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Each team was presented with a problem statement and required to put together a proposal to meet requirements. They were provided work time to collaborate with their team, followed by a presentation to the judges the following day.

The Electrical team was tasked with putting together a written proposal for a solar field and site lighting for an airport. This proposal included an estimate, schedule, subcontractor estimation, as well as safety, logistics, value engineering and QA/QC plans.

“The team collectively went through just about every emotion when we heard MSOE called for first place,” said Aaron Zilkowski, architectural engineering and construction management student and team captain. “We worked extremely hard to prepare and present our solution. Receiving validation for this effort was extremely rewarding. This win re-invigorated my desire to compete and the rest of the team shares the fiery passion to walk into the next competition in the winter ready to do it again on a larger stage.”

All three team captains emphasized that although the competition was incredibly challenging, it also offered invaluable learning and teambuilding opportunities that empowered each individual to advance their skills and foster relationships with one another. 

“The strict timeline and stressors involved push you to reach past limits and walk away from the competition way more competent than when you walked in,” said Zilkowski.

"As a team, we were very grateful to win because of the grueling 16 hours of work that we put in. We came well prepared to the competition, which with all of our hard work paid off in the end," said Mackenzie Landolt, construction management student and preconstruction team captain.

"I am extremely proud of my teammates! I was thrilled to see all their hard work payoff with the win. Most importantly we all had fun despite the stressful nature of the competition. I feel very fortunate to have all of them on the heavy civil team and I thank them for it," said Benny Diedrich, civil engineering and heavy civil team captain.

The MSOE teams were supported by corporate sponsors Power Construction, Aldridge Electric and F.H. Paschen.

Winning team members and coaches:

Electrical

• Aaron Zilkowski, architectural engineering and construction management, team captain
• John Kowalski, construction management
• Tramyqua Allen, construction management
• Carissa Jones, architectural engineering and construction management
• Brayan Hernadez, construction management
• Mason Eckhardt, architectural engineering
• Tamara Omari, coach
• Dr. Habib Arjmand Mazidi, coach

Heavy Civil

• Benny Diedrich, civil engineering, team captain
• Joseph Batterman, architectural engineering
• Ethan Ramsey, construction management
• Melissa Pacheco-Paz, civil engineering
• Zach Dannecker, civil engineering
• Ruby Semenchuk, architectural engineering
• Dr. Salah Sarhat, coach

Preconstruction

• Mackenzie Landolt, construction management, team captain
• Hayley Thomas, construction management
• Jennifer Miller, civil engineering
• Habiba Watfa, architectural engineering
• Brayden Hardersen, construction management
• Mark Rounds, coach
• Gage Christianson, coach

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