or sixteen hours straight, six UAA construction management students worked in a room by themselves, racing against the clock to create a winning construction bid. Their only tools? A hard drive full of project specs and months of preparation they poured into their strategy and to building working relationships with each other.
There are no second chances—when the clock hit 10 p.m., their bid was final. And by sunrise, they were standing in front of a panel of industry experts, defending their work.
“It was down to the wire, just like last year, ” UAA construction management junior Jeremy Horacek says. “The judges love coming to the Alaska room and watching us work together. They are always impressed by how organized and clean our ‘war room’ is and love interacting with us. They stated that the Alaska team impresses them every year.”
Kris Jensen, a UAA construction management professor and the team’s coach, said it’s a huge accomplishment to place, since most universities bring more students to the competition than UAA has in their entire program.
“It is really a David vs. Goliath story,” Jensen says.
Held annually in Sparks, Nevada, the competition is one of the largest student construction contests in the country. More than 2,500 students from fifty universities in the western United States gather for three intense days of problem-solving, teamwork, and real-world application.
“This is the Super Bowl for construction management on the west coast,” says Will Marstall, a UAA construction management senior. “All the big companies who work in the region are recruiting at this event, which goes to show the talent that this has.”
Marstall, who landed a job at Turnagain Marine Construction after last year’s competition, says the event serves as a crash course in real-world project management.
Junior-Year UAA Student
The competition is a rite of passage for many construction management students, offering a direct pipeline to jobs and internships. After competing last year, Marstall received multiple job offers. The connections students make at the event often shape their careers before they graduate.
“This experience has helped to better define my understanding of construction management in a way that is not possible in the classroom alone,” says Michael Austin Stees, a UAA junior who balanced a full course load, full-time job, and weekly club meetings while preparing for the competition. “Being in the presence [of] and engaging with professionals in the industry has been invaluable in understanding the many facets incorporated into managing a construction project.”
Coach Jensen says he loves teaching and engaging with the future leaders of the construction industry, delivering lessons from the real-world side of construction.
Jensen says he works with the team on telling a story, which encompasses the timelines, resources that are needed, pinch points, opportunities, and other details that project managers have to work with in the real world.
“We focus on teamwork—not siloing yourself on a task, but working through problems as a team,” Jensen says. “Communication is also a big factor, as you have to be able to tell the judges how you are going to build the project. You can put in all the hard work behind the scenes, but if you can’t deliver a clear message on how to move forward, it is hard for a team to follow.”
For Kansas Bertollini, a second-year student on UAA’s Heavy Civil team, the competition isn’t just about placing well—it’s about building the skills and connections that will shape his career.
“Kris did a great job preparing us for what Kiewit wants,” Bertollini says. “However, nothing but the experience prepares you for the stress of trying to complete a bid in the short amount of time given to the teams. Being that this was my first competition, it was all foreign to me, but I would definitely recommend the experience to all students. It is a great lesson in team building. It forces participants to trust team members.”
Marstall says coach Jensen has become a great mentor to him.
“Kris is an excellent coach and really hones in on what is important and not important,” Marstall says. “Given the short timeframe, there’s specific things that are heavily focused on and others are more general. The whole competition—and being in the club and learning from Kris—has really helped shape my journey.”
Photo provided by Associated Schools of Construction
“Much of the course at UAA is online to give working professionals a chance to get a degree,” Marstall says. “This unfortunately has the knock-on effect of removing the social interaction that is key for construction management. The club, competition, and practices give people a chance to learn and interact with each other.”
Regardless of the outcome, the competition serves as a launchpad, preparing students for the breakneck pace of the construction industry.
“It is hard to explain how crazy the competition is until you experience it,” Horacek says. “I think the level of experience in the industry is what gave us an edge and allowed us to perform as well as we did. We definitely took some notes on how we can improve and plan on incorporating that into next year’s preparation.”