The Architecture, Construction, and Engineering (ACE) Mentor Program of Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia held its annual awards banquet on Feb. 5, giving student participants a chance to present the work they have done over the fall semester program.
ACE is an after school mentoring program that gives high school students the opportunity to meet with architects, engineers, and builders to learn about careers in the design and construction industry. Students gain experience in working on a real-world project and compete for scholarships to pursue an ACE career beyond high school. This year’s student project focused on the redevelopment of the City Hall Annex with students using the Innovation District Framework Plan as their guide. Students were to develop a program, budget, floor plans, exterior elevations and other drawings/models to clearly define their proposal.
Four local high schools - Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences, Howard High School, East Ridge High School and Lafayette High School– embraced the project and sent teams to work on the assignment. Two open teams, one meeting at EMJ Corporation and the other at DH&W Architects, included students from other various local schools.
The winning team consisted of students from seven different area high schools, private, public and home, that came together as one team, Team EMJ.
Panelist Clint Dean of ModusBuild said,“Team EMJ’s presentation was extremely thorough, well thought out and considered the value points outlined in the Innovation District Framework Plan. Their proposed design solution fostered a diverse and inclusive neighborhood, respected the culture of the surrounding space, had several innovation and education related components, desired to spur growth thru several urban lab concepts, and improved the public life of the area….all of which are crucial to any design project, especially in an urban environment. They also did a great job adhering to and addressing the design considerations specified in the ACE Project criteria document. They did a great job.”
Additionally, four scholarships funded by Barge Design Solutions, AIA Chattanooga, EMJ Corporation, Riverside Development, Compass Commissioning Design, Fulmer Concrete, Terracon and ACE Mentor Program totaling $17,500 were awarded at the conclusion of the student project presentations. Scholarship winners were Esme Williams, (CCA) Carson Hamilton, (McCallie) Jason Ramirez, (Sequoyah) Jenna Voiles, (Soddy Daisy). Jason Ramirez has been selected to compete for the CMiC- Allen Berg Memorial Scholarship through the National ACE Mentor Program.
ACE is actively recruiting architect, engineer, and construction mentors for the 2019-2020 program. To become a mentor, please register at www.acementor.org.