ACE Mentor New York: Our Future is in Good Hands

There is nothing more heart-warming than witnessing the initiatives taken by students to grasp the practicalities of their current passion and future professions! Such was the scene at the NYU Kimmel Center for University Life this past Spring, May 27th. The ACE Mentor Program held one of a series of presentations, of which I had the pleasure and honor to serve as a juror for. Each year, ACE participants present the designs they have worked on throughout the course of their participation. I couldn't have been more thrilled to see the dedication of the confident youth who have pursued their dreams and received quite the pedagogical training through these projects.

As an ACE graduate myself, having participated in the Staten Island chapter of the program during my high school years, I recalled the delight of meeting a 'real' architect- one whose designs were taken off the drawing board and erected into an inhabitable building for the world to experience! Returning as an ACE Alumna, I was more than pleased to hear ACE students explaining the MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing) systems of their projects, the process they took to design their facades, the square footages they allocated to their spaces, the needs of the clients they would serve, sustainability and LEED project points, site selection, and much more! Four teams of the ACE New York chapter, spearheaded by their mentors- professionals of the building industry- captured the stages of architectural design, engineering, and construction, through interdisciplinary coordination, process in design development, and resourceful creativity. With their incredibly thoughtful presentations, it was easy, and honestly quite inspiring, to observe how much these students had grown through their ACE participation. It takes a mentor and an often immeasurable thirst for knowledge to spark a mind in the right direction, and these students possessed both tools!

For those of you who know young high school students interested in a career in the building industry, PLEASE recommend ACE to them, as it is an invaluable resource for learning the 'ins and outs' of this absolutely dynamic career path! I thank the students for showing us the drive you have to advance yourself in this industry! I am quite assured that the built environment of New York City is in safe hands!

Click below to scroll through gallery, photos courtesy of AECOM: