Article by Nicholle Piper
On November 5, 2014, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (CEC) hosted the Civil Engineering Session for the Western Pennsylvania ACE Mentor Program. The ACE (Architecture, Construction and Engineering) Mentor Program is a national effort founded in 1994 to motivate high school students to pursue careers in engineering, design and construction. Over the course of this school year, Pittsburgh-area students will break into groups and progress through the design process for the construction of a museum. Each group is tasked with designing a wing of the museum. Students attend bi-weekly sessions hosted by professionals in the industry, and every session is focused on a different aspect of the design. Session subjects range from architecture to structural engineering to electrical engineering to interior design, etc. The deliverables for each session are combined and presented during a final project presentation at the end of the school year.
CEC has facilitated the Western PA Civil Engineering Session for the past 5 years. Approximately 70 students attended the event on November 5, which began with Nicholle Piper from Langan Engineering & Environmental Services presenting a brief overview of Civil Engineering. Then, Adele Beaves from CEC presented the task for the session. Students were provided with hard copies of a sample ordinance and a base site plan, and then each group designed a unique museum site that complied with the ordinance. Throughout the session, students were allotted time to focus on site layout and parking, landscape design, stormwater management design, and utility design. Mentors offered guidance during the session, but each group’s design was unique and creative. The session wrapped up with every group taking a few minutes to present their designs.
Read more about the ACE Mentor Program or the Pittsburgh ACE program, or contact Linda Kaplan, Karen Mueser, or Nicholle Piper for more information or to volunteer for future sessions.
