ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) announced which student chapters have qualified as finalists in the MCAA Student Competition. The chapters are: the MCAA Student Chapter at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, MCAA's Student Chapter at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Illinois State University Mechanical and Electrical Contractors Association, and the MCA of Indiana Student Chapter at Purdue University.

Judges selected the finalists from 10 submissions by MCAA student chapter teams. The submissions were judged on the overall quality of the written proposal, project management and organization, feasibility of construction and program schedules, quality of conceptual design, and accuracy/feasibility of conceptual costs.

The four selected teams will compete for cash and honors during the Student Chapter Competition March 1 at MCAA's Annual Convention in Orlando, Fla. Each team will deliver a 20-minute oral presentation consisting of a 15-minute formal presentation and five minutes of questions from the panel of judges. The judges will score the presentation to determine the first and second place winners, who will receive $5,000 and $2,500, respectively. The other two teams will receive $1,000.

The subject of the competition is the construction of a 14,000-square-foot educational facility located on a hypothetical college campus in Miami, Fla. The project was presented to MCAA by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), which used the project for its 2003 student competition. MCAA added mechanical elements and made other changes to enhance the project's interest and to challenge the students.

Publication date: 02/02/2004