Mentors
Thanks to our many mentors who have helped us this past year in making our affiliate such a success. View our list of mentors.
Board of Directors
Our board is comprised of local industry leaders who make a significant contribution to our chapter. We are grateful for their continuing support. View our board members.
Student registration for the 2009-2010 school year is now closed. Students who registered by the October 5th deadline will be notified be e-mail during the week of October 12th. Thank you for your interest, and check back in September 2010 to register for the 2010-2011 program.
About Us
One of two affiliates chosen from more than 90 regional ACE programs as “Affiliate of the Year,” the ACE Chicago mentoring program takes a “hands-on” approach to helping students learn about careers in architecture, construction, engineering and related professions.
During the 2008-2009 school year, 171 students students from 39 citywide high schools (the majority of them from the Chicago Public Schools) assigned to six teams with 165 mentors from professional A/E/C firms.
Using a variety of engaged learning approaches, the program involves students in activities that help them build skills they can carry over to school subjects, such as graphic design, art, math and engineering. At the same time, these activities give them a strong foundation on which to base future careers.
We also offer a program that provides paid summer internships at ACE’s participating firms. This program, which includes an orientation and ongoing oversight during the summer, gives students a chance to earn a salary (hourly wages have ranged from $10-$18), as well as gain valuable work experience and contacts.
To date we have awarded 226 four-year renewable scholarships valued at $523,000, and 43 summer internships.
Our Projects
ACE Chicago uses a range of creative activities to introduce students to careers in the building industry. For example, student teams might be provided with a list of architectural or structural elements and told to “gather” them from local buildings using a digital camera. Or each team might be given sets of architecture, engineering and construction drawings and asked to answer various design and technical questions about them.
Working with mentors on these kinds of activities helps students learn the basics of the building industry by applying abstract concepts to concrete situations.
Team Information
Team 1
We meet Wednesday evenings from 5:00pm-7:00pm at various locations in the downtown area.
Team 2
Team 3
Team 4
Team 5
Team 6
Participate in ACE!
If you’d like to experience ACE’s challenges, opportunities and rewards for yourself, just contact the ACE leader listed in the upper right-hand corner of this page.
