2021 National Student Competition

3 Finalists Compete for Championship Honors

The “DBIA Buff Builders” design-build team from the University of Colorado-Boulder captured the nation’s top student design-build prize after competing before a jury of industry professionals at the 2021 Design-Build Conference & Expo in Denver. CU-Boulder was one of three finalists in the 2021 National Design-Build Student Competition, which presented its design and construction plans for a student health facility on an American college campus. The University of Florida placed second, and the team from the University of Arizona finished third in the national competition.

Student chapter teams show-off their design-build skills to industry leaders.

The National Design-Build Student Competition provides young design-builders the opportunity to create a project as a team, present it to some of the industry’s leading pros and earn national recognition for their good work. DBIA’s student competition provides an unparalleled opportunity for students to meet and impress design-build industry leaders one-on-one.

Check back here for details on next year’s 2022 Student Competition, coming in late spring.

Design-Build Student Competition

Project Details for the 2021 National Student Competition

Each year a unique project is chosen to challenge our student design-build competitors. This year’s project is a student health facility on a college campus in the United States. See the full project details here.

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Free Design-Build Webinars

Making the Grade: Design-Build for University Students Webinars

The Design-Build Institute of America knows how difficult the past few months have been on students eager to get design-build training, and ultimately internships and jobs, in the AEC industry. That’s why we’ve create a free webinar series just for students. We hope you’ll join us at each session to expand your industry knowledge and leverage that training for a successful internship or job.

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Design-Build Conference & Expo

Student Career Fair

DBIA’s annual Design-Build Conference & Expo is always a terrific event for students hoping to make connections with industry leaders who are looking for new talent. This year we’ve beefed up our student events because we know the challenges they now face making connections during this pandemic. Whether it's our career fair, networking opportunities or mentoring program, DBIA is committed to providing opportunities for students to connect with firms and design-build leaders in a save environment that respects all social distancing guidelines. Students get a special discount on registration!

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University of Colorado Boulder,

"As a student, you don't get a lot of chances to talk to the higher-ups within an organization. If you do well, they seek you out and want to get to know you. I think being in the top three allows you the reverse of normal students. Rather than you trying to seek out a job, people seek you out to offer you a job. We had at least one person say, ‘If you want a job, you have one with Company X.’"

Washington State University,

"DBIA's Student Competition was a learning experience of a lifetime—it provided 'real world' challenges that made us stronger and prepared for future success."

Sacramento State,

"This is a national professional organization that supports students in the competition; it’s as real-life as they can get and we can’t wait to enter next year!"

Design-Build Students Impress

2021 Student Competition at Design-Build Conference & Expo in Denver

Student Competition at Design-Build Conference & Expo in Philadelphia

Student Competition at Design-Build Conference & Expo in Las Vegas

Previous National Winners

2021 National Winner

University of Colorado - Boulder

2019 National Winner

Seminole State College of Florida

2018 National Winner

Iowa State University

2017 National Winner

Washington State University

2016 National Winner

University of Colorado, Boulder

2015 National Winner

University of New Mexico

2014 National Winner

Milwaukee School of Engineering

2013 National Winner

California State Sacremento

DBIA Membership

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