WASHINGTON, March 20—Associated Builders and Contractors has announced the winners of its annual Construction Management Competition, which were honored at ABC Convention 2023 in Orlando, Florida, March 15-17. A total of 21 teams of undergraduate students from colleges and universities nationwide competed this year, and Florida International University was named the overall winner of the 2023 competition, with the highest cumulative points in the five competition categories.
Florida International University placed in the top three in all five categories, which include estimating, project management, quality control, safety and overall. Coming in second place overall, California State University, Fresno also placed in estimating and project management. Clemson University earned third place overall and also placed in the four subcategories. Additionally, Louisiana State University was named the 2022 Student Chapter of the Year.
“Colleges and universities are one of the many important talent pipelines into the construction industry, and ABC’s Construction Management Competition gives these talented students from across the country a chance to gain valuable experiences while strengthening their teamwork and collaboration skills,” said 2023 National Chair of the ABC Board of Directors Milton Graugnard, executive vice president, Cajun Industries LLC, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “The skills they learned during this process will help them achieve their construction career goals. We are looking forward to seeing the contributions they will make in the merit shop industry throughout their careers.”
The four-person teams put their construction project leadership skills to the test by completing the same construction management project. This year’s project focused on construction of a four-story, pre-K-12 education building located in downtown Orlando, the first phase of an ongoing campus capital improvement plan. The project will provide transformative spaces for students and faculty to learn, collaborate, problem-solve and create. The approximately 70,000-square-foot facility will replace existing educational structures with a first-class facility hosting a student union, a library, a college and career center, administrative offices, an innovation hub, labs, classrooms and spaces for collaboration, study and social.
The 21 teams that participated in ABC’s 2023 Construction Management Competition are:
All participants are active members of the ABC National Student Chapter Network, which connects local ABC chapters to colleges and universities with construction management programs to build the talent pipeline and mentor future leaders of the construction industry.
DEWALT is the presenting sponsor of ABC’s National Student Chapter Network. The competition is also supported by the Autodesk Construction Cloud and Gordian. A full list of the winners is available at abc.org/cmc.