UF construction students will bring their own mock company to compete against 35 schools in a national management competition.
UF’s College of Design, Construction and Planning is set to compete Tuesday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. The schools tasked students with creating the mock company in September.
During the annual Residential Construction Management Competition, universities from throughout the nation will present their plans. Last year, UF’s student division of the National Association of Home Builders placed third.
UF hired Richard Smailes, an M. E. Rinker, Sr. School of Construction Management senior lecturer and the team’s faculty adviser, in 2004, and he became involved with the competition soon after. He said construction management and interior design students rarely work together, and this competition bridges the gap.
“The whole point is when students leave school, they will all end up working together, so it is nice that at a student level they are able to see the other students’ point of views and where they are coming from,” Smailes said.
Austin Anderson, a 23-year-old construction management senior, is the team’s project manager.
“We have been doing things that our classes haven’t taught us and have been able to work together as a group to learn completely new concepts,” Anderson said.
While Anderson looks forward to using his newfound skills in the future, he’s keeping his mind on the competition.
“I can’t wait for all our hard work to pay off, and I am thrilled to be able to represent the Rinker School of Construction Management along with my fellow classmates,” Anderson said.
