Twelve Slippery Rock University engineering students proved themselves to be collaborative achievers at the 10th Annual Constructors Association of Western Pennsylvania Student Estimating Competition last month. These students, all members of the Associated General Contractors Student Chapter at SRU, comprised two teams, “Rock On” and the deceptively named “Rock Bottom,” the latter of which took the third place slot out of 10 overall teams.
The competition specifically targeted students’ skills in estimating, a niche but critical realm of civil engineering that involves projecting what the cost for a project will be as well as what materials will be needed to complete it.
Rachel Ferrick, a senior civil engineering major from Erie (McDowell HS), was one of the members of “Rock Bottom.” She is also the president of AGC Student Chapter at SRU, which helps students connect with professionals in the construction industry.
“We started preparing for this event back in October, and we had industry mentors who came to help us learn more about estimating,” Ferrick said. “It’s an area of engineering that isn’t often touched on, but it’s a really unique position that I felt would be a good thing for students to try.”
The AGC Student Chapter at SRU has afforded members with some important experiences for budding civil engineers, including tours of operators and carpenters’ unions and opportunities to attend conferences in Pittsburgh which allows the members to network and to learn more about the construction industry. All of these experiences are undeniably critical for students on their way to becoming professionals with the CAWP competition offering a challenge that allowed these determined students to really make use of their skills.
Together, the teams priced out 14 items, compared subcontractor quotes, created a construction schedule, and answered some questions about the contracts surrounding their projects.
“I was the only student with estimating experience thanks to an internship I had over the summer, but the other members on my team had PennDOT internships and Pennsylvania Turnpike internships. They had more on-site and in-the-field experience which was super helpful,” Ferrick said.
Both teams were able to successfully cooperate and pool their individual skills, persevering and competing at a high level.
Other SRU students who participated in the competition included:
- Zachary Donaldson, a senior civil engineering major from Kennerdell (Agora Cyber HS).
- Van Westbrook, a senior civil engineering major from Pittsburgh (Mount Lebanon HS).
- Austin Stein, a senior civil engineering major from Pittsburgh (Chartiers Valley HS).
- Ashley Rimmel, a senior civil engineering major from Ford City (Kittanning HS).
- Amber Maurer, a senior civil engineering major from Cowansville (Karns City HS).
- Santino Montefiori, a junior civil engineering major from Erie (Cathedral Prep HS).
- Peter Alberti, a freshman civil engineering major from Edinboro (General McLane HS).
- William Brown, a freshman civil engineering major from Easton (Wilson HS).
- Tyler Hiles, a freshman civil engineering major from Petrolia (Karns City HS).
- Caden Monahan, a freshman civil engineering major from Kutztown (Northwestern Lehigh HS).
- Logan O’Neil, a freshman civil engineering major from Gibsonia (Hampton HS).
More information about civil engineering at SRU can be found on the program’s webpage. More information about the CAWP competition can be found on the competition’s webpage.
