4/28/06 Contact: Robert Grant, 334/844-4523 (grantrs@auburn.edu)
David M. Granger, 334/844-9999 (grangdm@auburn.edu)

AU BUILDING SCIENCE TEAM PLACES FOURTH IN NATIONAL COMPETITION

AUBURN - A team of four students from Auburn University’s Department of Building Science placed fourth out of 23 teams in the National Student Construction Management Competition at the sixth annual Associated Builders and Contractors national convention in Las Vegas, Nev.

Students Jesse Lincoln of Trussville, Matt Self of Hoover, Matt Hughes of Dothan and Wyatt Johnson of Birmingham competed in the two-day event which required students to detail three areas of a construction project. Teams competed in project management/scheduling, estimating and safety.

The Auburn team took first place in the safety category. Building Science professor Paul Holley led the student group, which also included eight non-competing students, to the convention.

“There was a record number 23 universities represented at the ABC National Student Competition this year,” Holley said. “(It’s) a testament to the competitiveness and appeal of the event to construction management students across the country. I am extremely proud of our team achieving an overall finish of top four or better in the U.S. for three straight years. I look forward to continuing to coach Auburn’s team in this event in the future.”

Last year, the Auburn group finished second overall in the competition. The students are members of the ABC Auburn Student Chapter, which has been recognized as among the best in the nation in recent years.

“Since its inception in 2002, Auburn’s ABC Student Chapter has exceeded my expectations in every way,” Holley said. “We have had more than 90 student members for the past three years, with the largest delegation of students at the ABC National Convention for each of the past four years.

Auburn’s chapter receiving ABC’s ‘Award of Merit’ for the last two years in a row speaks directly to the students’ hard work in construction activities, fund-raising and promoting merit shop awareness. As the chapter advisor, I continue to be impressed at the level of commitment of Auburn's Building Science students.”

The Department of Building Science is housed within the College of Architecture, Design & Construction. The components of the CADC are annually regarded and ranked among the best in their respective disciplines nationally for the quality of education and quality of students.

Auburn University is a comprehensive research institution with more than 23,000 students and 6,500 faculty and staff. Ranked among the top 50 public universities nationally, Auburn is Alabama's largest educational institution, offering more than 230 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs.

(Contributed by Robert Grant.)

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