Congratulations to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo for winning this year’s Mechanical Contractors Association of America’s (MCAA) Student Chapter Competition! This unique annual contest provides college students with the invaluable opportunity to plan out real-world projects, and the winner walks away with $10,000. Once again, U.S. Engineering Construction’s Sarabeth Gandara (Preconstruction Manager) was a judge for the competition.

In the competition, students from MCAA chapters across the country consider an in-progress or recently completed real project, thinking through business structures, evaluating what they value in a company, and gaining technical skills that they can apply to future jobs in construction. Most importantly, they build professional networks by forming relationships with their teammates, advisors, and local and national contractors.

Sarabeth has been involved with the MCAA for over a decade. From 2013 to 2018, she was a member of the Milwaukee School of Engineering MCAA Student Chapter, competing in this competition each year alongside her classmates.

“Participating in these competitions helped me seek out my career path. Before competing, I had no idea what mechanical contracting was and had been planning to enter the consulting engineering world post-graduation. Without the experience of the student competition, I wouldn’t have even pursued a career in mechanical contracting,” said Sarabeth.

Since that time, Sarabeth has supported the competition as an advisor and judge. This year, she reviewed the final round, helping to select California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The University of Wisconsin-Stout was the runner-up, receiving a trophy and a check for $5,000. Ball State University and McMaster University rounded out the final four. Both Honorable Mention finalists received trophies and $2,500 checks.

“The winning team gave a strong presentation. All four of their speakers were clear and concise. In the Q&A round, they shared the responsibility of answering questions, which showed the buy-in of all team members, not just a select one or two. Finishing in second place last year, they rose to the occasion. It was clear they did a lot of preparation for the competition,” said Sarabeth.

This year’s project was the construction of the aquarium at the Kansas City Zoo. When comparing the final four packets, Sarabeth identified some common themes that emerged. Teams highlighted people, relationships, and experience to prove they were the best contractor for the job.

As part of their presentations, each of the final four teams shared why their company was the best choice. They all responded with something different, each providing insight into new recruits’ workplace values.

“One highlighted the importance of their people. Another shared the value of their 85 years of experience and how they gave back to the community. One team showcased their relationship with the Kansas City Zoo and their facility manager. The final team mentioned their ability to effectively apply lessons learned in their previous experience to better the project. All four responses, to me, emphasized what the next generation of the workforce is looking for in our companies after graduation – people, relationships, the ability to improve processes, community outreach, and stability,” said Sarabeth.

We asked Sarabeth to share how the students’ skills and capabilities are changing, and she said, “This year, we noticed that student chapters utilized some AI programs to help write their submissions. I think this allowed them more time to focus on the project approach, logistics, and schedule rather than spending time writing their company history and philosophy. Moving forward, I expect to see students utilize AI more often to create polished submissions.”

Looking ahead, we asked Sarabeth to offer advice to future teams: “You will get out of this competition what you put in. As an industry, we all want you to see what we do and interact with our work. This is a safe space to fail forward, learn, and grow – especially within your time as a student. Though the final four stage presentations may seem really intimidating, you will always look back on this experience and be proud of the bond you created with your team, the professionalism and problem solving you demonstrated, and the growth you made.”  

You can watch the entire MCAA Student Competition conference sessions, with presentations from the final four teams and the award announcement, here.

And you can read more from Sarabeth Gandara about “Bridging the Workforce Gap” here.

All photos via MCAA