MCA Student Chapters

In 2005, Northern California MCA established its first Student Chapter at Cal Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, CA. The Cal Poly Chapter is part of MCAA’s national student chapter program. This successful program has created an important link between industry and education.

Cal Poly Creates Their Own “Wonderland”
Orlando, Florida was the site of the 118th Annual MCAA Convention this past February. The Northern California MCA Student Chapter at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo was in attendance to compete in the 6th Annual 2006–2007 Student Chapter Competition. Initially the team competed with 20 Student Chapters from around the United States and earned the honor of attending the competition as a “Final Four” team.

After submitting a complex written proposal and delivering a 20 minute oral presentation, Cal Poly won first place in the competition and took home the top prize of $5,000. The Cal Poly team members included Randy Ayers, Derrick Fellows, Ross Fenton, Mya Krikorian, and Frank Ormonde.

The Student Chapter event called for participants to work on the transformation of the 20-story Dallas Power & Light Building in Dallas, Texas. This transformation involved turning the building into 158 luxury apartment condominiums and the addition of 25,000 square feet of retail space on the first level. The students also had to make allowances for the pool and health club on the roof of the adjacent parking garage.

The three other finalists at the convention were the MCAA Student Chapter at Georgia Tech, MCAA Student Chapter at Oregon State University, and Mechanical/Electrical Specialty Contracting Student Chapter at the University of Nebraska.

After the fierce battle, Cal Poly was further challenged to examine the infrastructure of Space Mountain and the Pirates of the Caribbean rides. As of this date, no written evaluation had been submitted.