Congratulations to the winners of UA’s Construction Olympics!

Jackson Iamarino (Second Place Winner), Andre Hineman (First Place Winner), Shane Larkins (Third Place Winner), with Brian Ballou, Professor of Construction Engineering Technology and the organizer of the Construction Olympics.

On Saturday, October 22, The University of Akron’s Department of Civil Engineering hosted its first ever Construction Olympics. Held at various indoor and outdoor locations on the main Akron campus, the competition was designed as a fun, interactive way to give students hands-on experience to supplement their engineering education.

The Construction Olympics consisted of eight construction events — the Bobcat Obstacle Course, Mini Excavator Muscle, Hammer Time, Drilling for Dollars, Room Volume, the Amazing Pace, Concrete Cylinder Toss, and Saws-All Challenge. Students needed to compete in all events in order to place in the competition.

Final scores for each event depended on the construction activity. For example, the student who could hammer three nails into a 2x4 piece of wood the fastest won the gold medal for Hammer Time. Students earned three points for each gold, two points for each silver, and one point for each bronze medal. Then students were ranked based on the total number of points they received.

In many cases, the feats were quite remarkable.

“The Amazing Pace is an event that uses your personal stride length to estimate a specific distance,” says Brian Ballou, Professor of Construction Engineering Technology and the organizer of the Construction Olympics.  “One student came within one inch of a total length of 75 feet. Wow!”

Congratulations to the following winners.

First Place
Andre Hineman
Majoring in mechanical engineering

Second Place
Jackson Iamarino
Majoring in construction engineering technology

Third Place
Shane Larkins
Majoring in construction engineering technology

“We couldn’t be prouder of Andre, Jackson, and Shane,” said Dr. Craig Menzemer, Dean of the College of Engineering and Polymer Science. “Each of them is a great example of how a combination of time, talent, and grit lead to success. They will make exceptional engineers and construction professionals one day.”

The Construction Olympics was sponsored by Independence Excavation and Summit Construction.

RELATED CONTENT:

• Check out our undergraduate programs in our Department of Civil Engineering
• Explore our mechanical engineering programs 

Story by Kelly Bray.

Media contact: Cristine Boyd, 330-972-6476 or cboyd@uakron.edu.