For the second year in a row, the team of students from the University of Wisconsin–Madison won the 2024 Electrical Contracting Innovation Challenge (ECIC).
The ECIC is an opportunity for university students to work with their faculty members and contractors on a creative design project to construct an innovative electrical system to meet their assigned customer’s needs.
On Sept. 28, the three finalists—the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Wayne State University and Iowa State University—presented their projects to a panel of contractors and industry partners. First place ($4,000) was awarded to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Iowa State won $3,000 and came in second place. Wayne State University won $2,000 and came in third.
Teams worked with their local NECA chapter and electrical contractors to deliver a proposal containing various building information modeling tasks for the Trimble Phase 2 project. When working on this project, students were asked to put themselves in the position of an electrical contractor and think about the layout and coordination of the electrical systems.
The teams used the same computer software that industry leaders use. During the competition, the student teams worked through the challenges that BIM engineers face when completing a project, including creating an execution plan, a detailed work assignment log, a prefabrication plan, installation drawings and more. Students also worked with modeling electrical systems using Revit and doing coordination in Navisworks and Trimble Connect.
The student teams worked with their local NECA chapters and contractors to conduct interviews in contractors’ facilities to learn how they have responded to similar past projects. Contractors worked with students to consider real-world project parameters including schedule, cost, workforce, weather and more.
A list of all the winners is below:
- Most innovative use of technology in oral presentation ($5,000 and presented by Trimble)—Iowa State University
- Best presenter ($500)—Claudia Rea
- Most detailed BIM in written proposal ($500)—University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Most innovative use of XR-10 in a written proposal ($1,000)—Penn State University
- Most influential media campaign ($500)—Dunwoody College of Technology
- NECA Student Chapter of the Year ($2,500)—University of Wisconsin–Madison
About The Author
Holly Sauer
Senior Associate EditorHolly Sauer has worked for Electrical Contractor magazine since 2019 and is the senior associate editor. She went to Washington & Jefferson College and studied English and art history. At Electrical Contractor magazine, she creates the newsletters and the new and featured products sections. She also edits articles for the three publications and occasionally writes on tools and industry news. She is fueled by the desire to read every book ever written. And coffee. Reach her on LinkedIn or at [email protected].
