ABOUT ACE
ACE Mentoring Rhode Island is mentoring and team-building program for high school students in the Rhode Island area interested in careers in architecture, construction, and engineering. Celebrating its 15th anniversary during the 2018-2019 school session, ACE’s Rhode Island program helps high school students discover how to translate their interests and abilities into exciting, rewarding careers in the building and design industry.
Professionals drawn from leading area firms mentor teams of students, explaining the inner workings of their jobs, leading tours of major construction sites and challenging the teams with hands-on design projects.
The program also gives students a chance to win college scholarships and cultivate industry contacts that could help them obtain college admissions, internships and full-time positions.
ACE RI is a local chapter of the national ACE Mentor nonprofit. Nationwide, more than 30,000 students have participated in ACE programs, getting career guidance, collage preparation, and scholarships.
PROGRAMS
ACE Rhode Island offers two separate project programs. First-year students learn about various building industry fields and complete hands-on design projects they present at the end of each year, while second-year students form teams and participate in the ACE/CIRT national competition as their final project.
First-year students in previous years have designed a combined office and daycare center, as well as condominiums, a recreation center, a restaurant, an arcade and other projects. The scope of these projects can be quite extensive, with our first-year teams preparing plans, drawings and construction schedules for multi-use facilities such as a combined aquarium, fitness club and retail center. This multi-faceted project introduced students to zoning regulations, architectural design, structural engineering, construction engineering and construction administration.