With the recent start of the academic year, fellow Bialosky + Partners designer James Cowan and I have joined with local design, engineering and construction professionals to mentor a group of John Hay High School students in the ACE Mentor Program. ACE (Architecture Construction Engineering) is a national high school program that works with high school juniors and seniors who have interest in the building industry. The program introduces students to aspects of the profession which include programming, conceptual design, engineering processes, constructability and sustainability. As mentors, James and I will be working with the students through the academic year and will be offering insights into the field of architecture as well as helping the students develop their design project. This year, the students will be exploring the idea of "shelter" and defining its meaning for themselves and their project for the duration of the year. This idea, generated by the team's lead firm TDA Architecture, intends to offer the students a taste of a real-world RFP where they will be responsible for creating the program specifics as well as the design itself.

As a kick-off exercise, the students were taken on a photo scavenger hunt with the aim of finding as many different types of "shelter" as possible. With the majority of University Circle as the area included, there were plenty of possibilities to discover. We are certainly excited to see what these young, creative minds will develop for their project!  More on ACE Mentor Program To become a mentor, you'll find an application on ACE's website : http://www.acementor.org/ [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZvCxW1K1AI#t=62[/youtube]