K-State engineering team wins international competition

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Source: Kimberly Kramer, 785-532-3576, kramer@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Adam Holste, 785-532-6415, media@k-state.edu

Monday, April 9, 2007

K-STATE ENGINEERING TEAM WINS INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

MANHATTAN -- A team of five Kansas State University engineering students recently won first place in the American Concrete Institute's Concrete Construction Competition.

The international competition is a weeklong activity for engineering students. After registering, project managers for each team are sent a real-life, high-profile job problem for their team to solve.

Each team had to come up with a short toolbox talk that a company's superintendents could give on a day when their field crews are placing concrete in a tall column and wall forms. The talk was to remind the field crews how to properly place and consolidate concrete when they can't see the concrete surface during placements.

The students had seven days to turn in their answer. It couldn't be more than 600 words, and they were allowed a maximum of four pictures.

Kimberly Kramer, assistant professor of architectural engineering at K-State, coached the students in the competition.

Team members included: Adam Wiederholt, senior in construction science and management, Hartford; Caleb McNeil, senior in construction science and management, Liberal; Jeff Nelson, senior in construction science and management, Olathe, project manager; Kristina Geisler, fifth-year senior in architectural engineering, Topeka; and Chris Baalmann, senior in construction science and management, Viola.

By being selected the top team in the contest, K-State will receive a $300 cash award. In addition, Kramer and the students will have the opportunity to attend the American Concrete Institute Convention in Atlanta April 22, where the students will be allowed to present their solutions at the Construction Liaison Committee meeting. They will then be recognized at the student lunch the following day. K-State will receive an additional $500 to cover the team's travel expenses.

Kramer said the competition was a very good experience for her students.

"They are assigned a real-world application problem as a team in a short amount of time," Kramer said. "They had to know their resources, who to call and where to find information to solve it. I thought they worked extremely well as a team. They were very resourceful, and they did an excellent job."

Sponsored by both the American Concrete Institute and the American Society of Concrete Contractors, the competition went international for the first time in its four-year existence. There were 48 teams registered, with 23 teams from 15 different universities completing the problem.