The 2025 Electrical Contracting Innovation Challenge (ECIC), sponsored by ELECTRI International, received tremendous support from NECA Student Chapters across the country and from members of the electrical contracting industry.
A total of ten NECA Student Chapters submitted comprehensive proposals detailing plans and cost estimates for creating an electrical system for a facility of their choice. An all-volunteer jury of experienced electrical contractors and industry partners reviewed and scored each proposal and selected three finalist teams who were invited to make final oral presentations during the NECA Convention in Chicago.
The hall was filled to audience capacity because so many contractors look forward to the ECIC competition as an opportunity to become more familiar with students who comprise the next generation of talent for the EC industry. Following the competition, NECA San Diego Chapter Executive Andy Berg remarked, “The ECIC is important for both students and our contractors. As teams prepare and present their projects, they learn more about the wide variety of career opportunities open to them in this industry. At the same time, contractors and our industry partners get to see how advanced so many of the students are – eager and ready for positions in firms across the country.”
For 2025, the Penn State University team took First Place ECIC honors. Their proposed project centered on the ERMCO Headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana. While preparing their ECIC proposal, each Architectural Engineering student on the ten-member team had significant interaction with NECA’s Western Pennsylvania Chapter and with contractors throughout the region.
The two other finalist teams were the University of Wisconsin-Madison who took Second Place Honors and Wayne State University who received the Third Place Award.
Several other prizes are also important to the ECIC competition. These include awards for Energy Saving Solution (Iowa State University), Most Compete and Detailed Estimate (Iowa State University), Best Social Media Campaign (Wayne State University), and Best Individual Presenter (Derrick Thomas from University of Wisconsin-Madison)
For information about the 2026 ECIC competition, contact Laura Holmes, ELECTRI Director of Communications at laura.holmes@electri.org.
