Higher Learning

by Stacy Rinella | August 21, 2024 7:00 am

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With the fall semesters in high gear at colleges and universities across North America, the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) once again is helping students and their faculty advisors as they prepare submittals for MBMA’s annual design challenge. The stakes are high with more than $30,000 available in awards.

“If you know any professors who teach architecture, engineering, or related design courses, please invite them to view our design criteria and consider using the competition as a design studio option for their students next fall,” explains Tony Bouquot, MBMA’s general manager. “The more students who participate, the more we get the word out to tomorrow’s designers. The more they learn about metal buildings, the more likely they are to consider metal building options when they enter the workforce.” For complete details and criteria, visit MBMAeducation.org.

“The award program challenges undergraduate and graduate students to create innovative metal building facilities,” says MBMA director of research and engineering Lee Shoemaker, PhD, PE. “In addition to exploring architectural options, students learn about metal building manufacturing, design, and construction through this process.”

This year’s competition challenges students to develop innovative designs using a metal building system that could meet the fitness needs of their college or university’s student population. The complex that each student or student team designs will include both indoor and outdoor facilities to support a variety of sports activity options, including athletic courts, a rock-climbing wall, and group exercise rooms.

“Participants are eligible to participate if they are full-time registered students at a college or university,” says Bouquot. “Entries are accepted for individuals as well as teams of up to five students. All student/team entrants are required to work under the direction of a faculty sponsor through either a design, technology, structure, or construction class.” There are graduate and undergraduate divisions, and no entry fee
is required.

 

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Honoring past winners

2023—Nature Center and Environmental Research Facility

In last year’s competition, the top prize went to Jamie Jang, a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and his advisor Stephen Schreiber. The competition had entries from schools across North America, with 46 students and eight faculty sponsors participating.

“Faculty sponsors play a large role in the competition, and we thank them for their work,” says Shoemaker.

For the 2023 competition, MBMA asked students to imagine their university and local parks department decided to collaborate on a new nature center and environmental research facility. This combined facility would support university research into ecological preservation efforts and be used as an immersive teaching experience for the public. The competition challenged students to develop innovative designs using a metal building system to engage the public with the natural world.

“This was the third year of our design competition,” says Shoemaker. “It’s been exciting to see it grow and to introduce metal building systems to students across the country. The creativity, insight, and enthusiasm of these students are wonderful to see and inspiring for our industry.”

 

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2022—Fire Station

Spurred by the success of MBMA’s 2021 competition, energy was sustained in 2022, when students were challenged to design a fire house with all the complicated work, maintenance, living, learning, and recreational spaces so common to a fire department facility. “We had entries from schools across America and one from Guatemala,” says Shoemaker. “It’s exciting to see a variety of schools and students submitting such impressive entries.”

Robert Kobet, who was advisor to the winning Kent State team for MBMA’s 2022 competition, is an adjunct professor in Kent State’s College of Architecture & Environmental Design.

“I am amazed at how much my students learned about putting together any building (structure, skin, mechanicals, etc.) because of this competition,” says Kobet of the competition experience. “It was the right size, the right program, and the right time. The MBMA team was so helpful in providing introductions, resources, and webinars.”

 

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2021—Educational Facility

MBMA’s inaugural competition garnered 64 entries, with nine finalists presenting many interesting design innovations. The program provided an opportunity for students to explore metal building system concepts to create an elementary school that would accommodate 200 students and not exceed two stories.

Bouquot says the successful program would not have been launched without the research and planning processes undertaken by the members of MBMA’s architect and education committees, followed by the unanimous and enthusiastic support of the MBMA board of directors. “It’s innovative ideas like the student design competition that will change our industry and help it become even more successful in the years to come.”

 

Linda Mastaglio is the founding principal of Thoughts. Words & Images., a public relations firm serving the architecture, engineering, and construction industries for nearly 30 years. Follow her on Linkedln at www.linkedln.com/in/twipr/.

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/articles/higher-learning/

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