Eastern
About Us
Founded in 2000, the ACE Mentor Program of Eastern Pennsylvania gives students from local high schools an exciting opportunity to learn more about potential careers in architecture, engineering and construction.
Under the mentorship of experienced professionals from leading building industry firms, students work in teams to pursue a range of informative and stimulating after-school activities, including field trips to “in-progress” construction sites, discussions with project managers, tours of professional offices and more. In addition, each team works on a project that addresses “real-life” situations and issues.
From November through May, the program meets every other week from 4:00 to 6:00 p. m. in the Center City offices of the team's mentors. It’s a perfect way to explore the building industry’s rich and diverse career opportunities.
Our Projects
In 2006-2007, our six teams all worked on a six-story, mixed-use development with retail and/or commercial occupancies on the street level and a residential condominium development on the floors above.
To define the project, we gave each team an extensive instruction document. It included such items as community information, the number and type of residential units, and a list of common residential features and amenities, as well as lobby and retail options, space measurements and operating requirements. In addition, one team chose to include “green building” criteria.
To complete their projects, each team had to produce seven items (site plans, models, elevations, perspectives, etc.) from a list of 14 deliverables. The teams then used these items to demonstrate their project solutions during a special event for mentors, peers and other guests. Following the presentations, we awarded 10 scholarships worth a total of more than $20,000.
Participate in ACE!
If you’d like to experience ACE’s challenges, opportunities and rewards for yourself, just contact one of the ACE leaders listed in the upper right-hand corner of this page.
