In his first year as coach, Dr. Sundeep Inti led Illinois State's construction management students to a strong showing at the Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) Region 3 competition, with the commercial construction team claiming first place on October 19.

The competition tasked teams with providing detailed construction project management plans. The pre-construction team’s project—a high-rise combining housing and offices—was impressively close to the industry experts' estimates. Meanwhile, the commercial team faced a real-world challenge, estimating a medical office building project in Florida managed by Walsh Construction. Dr. Inti shared, “They were impressed by how close our students got to their own estimates.”

Team members like Leo Lara Gallegos reflected on the experience, saying, “It kind of pushed us with how intricate and unique this building and process was… presenting it gave me a lot of confidence and made me grow as a presenter.”

Inti also praised his team’s pressure-handling and teamwork skills: “They learned a lot about the industry, and personally, they demonstrated great time management and presentation skills.”

Team bonding and collaboration were integral parts of the experience. Gallegos noted, “There was definitely some team bonding, and I greatly appreciated my time with them.”

The pre-construction team, including Cody Baumann, Daniel Ogden, Nicholas Alonzo, Yaseen Mohammed, and Benjamin Dehut, also performed well.

Dr. Inti credited the students’ success to both their hard work and support from faculty and IT staff. He expressed his gratitude, saying, “We are meeting outside the classroom… to see how they’re applying lessons.”