HATTIESBURG - University of Southern Mississippi technology students took a first place prize in competition recently at the 2003 Associated Building Contractors Student Chapters Construction Management Competition in San Diego.

Southern Miss students won first place in the Project Management event, competing against a variety of schools from across the country such as Brigham Young University, LSU, Auburn University, Texas A&M University and the University of Florida.

"This year's team worked very hard to prepare for this competition," said Desmond Fletcher, coordinator of Construction and Architectural Engineering Technology. "We are grateful for the support of the faculty, in particular professors David Marchman and Tulio Sulbaran, for the continued support from ABC who made this all possible and for invaluable industry guidance, in particular Mike Rozier of Rozier Construction, who really put the student team through their paces."

Students demonstrated knowledge, skill and aptitude in solving a construction problem involving actual field challenges. Students were challenged in project management, estimating and safety.

Students participating included Casey Rogers, Scott Baragona, Caine Dearman, George Zorn, Branden Allen and Matthew Pace.

"This was a great opportunity for the Southern Miss Construction Engineering Department to represent Southern Miss on a national level to compete against other engineering programs," said Rogers, who serves as president of the Southern Miss Student Constructors organization.

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