Students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science who took first and second place at the first Granite Collegiate Challenge this October met with faculty and members of Granite Construction Company for the official awards presentation.

Mikael Anderson, professor of construction management and faculty advisor to the two teams, said, “The event was back in October and we received these large cardboard checks. This was the official ceremony, they wanted to have plaques and some awards made out for each of the students to recognize them individually.”

Sophomore Zac Lucas said it was a good team building exercise.

“We went in there with no preparation and we were able to work together to achieve six different tasks, and it was a good experience,” Lucas said.

Branch manager for Granite Construction Company, Brian Dowd, said that the competition was geared toward illustrating a real hands-on environment. He wanted to show students how to take what is taught in the classroom and apply it to a real world experience.

“From all the things we heard from the competitors and the faculty, it was a great learning experience. Many of the faculty members said that in the classroom they’re always trying to talk about how it happens on the field and this is an opportunity to see how it happens,” Dowd said.

Sacramento State’s teams came together to execute the tasks and work efficiently. In doing so, they were able to beat the eight other teams participating.

“We didn’t tell them what the competition was going to be, so they really had to come together as a team right off the bat,” Dowd said.

“We believe the reason that they did so well was because they were able to do that. They had a lot of diverse members in their team, many of whom just met the night before it started, and they were able to figure out who should work on which part of these different challenges in a real hurry and really pull together as a team.”

The first place prize was $10,000 and second place received $5,000.

“We’re looking at $15,000 as the award. This is going to go into the program, it will be spent on things like sponsoring students for activities,” Anderson said. “It goes directly back to them.”

Tammy Nazanda can be reached at [email protected]