Project Management Archives | Building and Construction Technology

UMass BCT Preconstruction Team Secures 2nd Place at Region 1 ASC Competition

December 8, 2025December 8, 2025 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

The annual Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 1 Competition offers a unique learning environment for students, significantly enhancing their educational experience. ASC organizes regional competitions sponsored by construction companies, with many programs across the U.S. The BCT program recognizes and supports the benefits of student participation in intercollegiate competitions like this and we have sent teams to this competition for a few years now. In this competition, students submit proposals to construction industry executives, who serve as judges, and then defend their proposals in front of an audience during the event. Throughout the competition, students face real-world scenarios that challenge their skills. The BCT program began participating in the ASC Competitions in 2019, finishing last in our first year. We improved to 6th place in 2020. In 2021, we created a dedicated course (BCT 392C) to better prepare our students, resulting in a 3rd place finish. We continued to climb the ranks, achieving 2nd place in 2022 and finally securing 1st...

Hammer Time: How Students, Faculty, Local Businesses and Holyoke’s Community Development Corporation Are Teaming Up to Fight the Housing Crisis

September 27, 2023September 27, 2023 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

They call it “Paper House”: a modular, 500-square-foot, high-performance, net zero, low carbon house designed and built by the students in UMass DesignBuild, a joint effort between the Building and Construction Technology Program and Department of Architecture at UMass Amherst and the Five College Architectural Studies program. DesignBuild is in its second year, and it seeks to address major problems, both in the educational world, and in the broader world at large. “A builder might go through their whole education and never see the work involved in designing a house,” says Carl Fiocchi, a lecturer and professional master’s program coordinator in the Building and Construction Technology Program. “The reverse is true for architects, too, who might never get any experience actually building their designs.” The DesignBuild class seeks to bridge this gap between the builders and designers with a two-semester sequence. In the spring semester, students are given a set of design parameters—the house’s overall footprint, budget, materials, etc.—and with those in place, design the...

UMass Student Team Places Eighth at National Competition

March 7, 2023 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

The 2023 National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Student Competition for four-year programs was held at the 2023 International Builders’ Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 31 - Feb. 2, 2023. The UMass NAHB Student Chapter team placed 8th in the competition. The mission of the NAHB four-year student competition is to expose students to an in-depth residential construction project from concept to closing. Using real projects, students compete with other schools as they display their problem-solving abilities and learn more about homebuilding. This year’s competition team included 14 students from the BCT program, the Department of Architecture, and the Isenberg School of Management. During the Fall semester, the students worked on developing a business proposal that included market analysis, product design, construction management, project management, financial and risk analysis, and sustainability related to a property in La Plata, MD. The students traveled to Las Vegas and presented their proposal to the judges and attended the International Builders’ Show, which is the housing industry’s...

Pre-Construction Student Team Takes Second Place in 2022 ASC Competition

November 14, 2022November 13, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

As in years past, BCT participated in the 2022 Annual Associated Schools of Construction Region 1 Student Competition in Albany, NY this past weekend with two teams. Under Prof. Romero's expert mentoring and with several months of hard work behind them, the Pre-Construction Team (shown in the image above) took home a stellar second place in the pre-construction category. This was only the third year in which our students competed in this competition. We congratulate the team members for this superb effort! The pre-construction team consisted of Patrick Koenen (Project Manager), Jocey Krooks, Erica Marschke, Cody McCreanor, Aidan McSheffrey, and Daniel Smith. The commercial construction team - which placed fifth this year - consisted of William Harmelink (Project Manager), Mark Carstairs, Jillian Contois, John McKinnon, Tali Shoham, and Hiram Tatis. Gallery Links ASC Region 1 website...

UMass Student AGC Group Wins Outstanding Emerging Chapter Award

February 7, 2022February 4, 2022 by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed

The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) national organization has announced that the AGC Student Chapter at UMass Amherst has earned the Outstanding Emerging Student Chapter Award. The judges for the 2021 AGC Outstanding Student Chapter Contest said they were impressed with the obstacles the UMass chapter overcame, as well as the growth documented in its application. The UMass Student AGC Chapter flourished this year under the leadership of its president, undergraduate Nathaniel Wright of the Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department, and its faculty co-advisors, CEE professor Scott A. Civjan and BCT professor Fernando Romero. This team initiated a full schedule of events for both the Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters, despite being remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter hosted two virtual construction site tours, OSHA-10 Training for 47 student participants, multiple guest lectures, and multiple chapter meetings. The chapter also developed a club website containing event information, blog posts, resources, and event summaries. Beyond that, the officers overcame the fact that none of them...