Curriculum

2023-2024 CURRICULUM & Resources

SCHEDULE

Below is the general schedule that each mentor location will follow this year. Please note that this is subject to change and may vary by mentor location. For current updates throughout the year, please check out the calendar.

FALL SEMESTER

SPRING SEMESTER

RESOURCES

2023-2024 Student Guide

2023-2024 Design Challenges

ACE Houston Project Options:

Memorial Hermann Sugar Land

Request for Proposals

Option 1: State-of-the-Art Medical Office Building

Option 2: Iconic Park & Welcome Space

Option 3: Welcoming Home Away From Home

ACE Mentor Program of America &

Construction Industry Round Table

2024 Design + Construction Competition

Software Links

Here are links to a few software packages you may see throughout our mentor program this year. All of these offer a free license option for students, so start exploring!

Autodesk: Broad range of BIM software that supports the AEC industry, including AutoCad and Revit. Click the logo to apply for a free student account.

Google Earth: Explore the world from above with satellite imagery, 3D terrain, and 3D buildings in hundreds of cities around the world. Click the logo above to go to their site. 

Homestyler: Online interior design platform that allows designers to create models and 3-D renderings of interior designs. Click the logo above to use their free version.

Miro: Visual collaboration platform that enables teams to collaborate on projects virtually. Click the logo to create a free account.

Onshape: Computer-aided design and product development software with all the tools needed to develop a product from conception to production. Click the logo above to use their free version.

Planner 5d: An advanced and easy-to-use 2D/3D floor plan design platform. Click the logo above to use their free version.

Sketch-Up: 3-D design software with a simple, yet robust toolset that empowers designers to create models. Click the logo to use their free web-based version.

TwinMotion: Real-time 3D immersion software that produces high-quality images, panoramas and standard or 360° VR videos in seconds. Click the logo above to download their free version.

WEEKLY SESSION AGENDAS & RESOURCES

SPRING 2024 SEMESTER

January 16th/17th: Recap & Project Development

Learning goals:

January 23rd/24th: Landscape & Civil Design

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 9 - Intro to Landscape & Civil Design

January 30th/31st: Modeling & Visualization

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 10 - Modeling & Visualization

February 6th/7th: Intro to Structural engineering

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 11 - Structural Engineering

February 20th/21st: Skilled trades

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 12 - Skilled Trades

February 27th/28th: MEP Engineering

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 13 - MEP Engineering

March 5th/6th: Construction estimating

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 14 - Construction Estimating, Scheduling, and Logistics

March 19th/20th: Interior Architecture

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 15 - Interior Architecture

March 26th/27th: Presentation SKills

Learning goals: COMING SOON!

FALL 2023 SEMESTER

October 24th/25th: Welcome to ACE!

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 1 - Welcome to ACE!

October 31st/November 1st: Introduction to plans and Construction Documents (week 1 for Downtown)

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from Week 2 - Intro to Construction Documents

November 7th/8th: Client/Owner Perspective

This week, Richard Morris, President & CEO of mStrategic Partners, the program manager for our client, Memorial Hermann Health Systems, joined us to talk healthcare design, his experience working with our client, the history of the Sugar Land campus, and principles of program management. He spoke on both Tuesday and Wednesday evening, so all of our students were able to ask questions. Both video recordings are linked below; Richard's presentation is similar in both, but the question and answer portion at the end varied. Feel free to enjoy both!

Learning goals:

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7th, 2023

Westside & Galena Park Teams

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8th, 2023

Virtual, Downtown, Galleria, and Northwest Teams

November 11th: RFP Site Visit to Memorial Hermann Sugar Land

As any architect, contractor, or engineer knows, it's important to see the site of a future project. It can help provide context for design, explain limitations for site logistics, and guide designers towards the perfect project for a community. That's why on Saturday, November 11th, ACE Houston loaded up on buses and headed down to Memorial Hermann Sugar Land to explore the sites for our projects this year!

During our visit, our students and mentors got the full experience:

ACE Houston had a great day, to say the least, and we can't wait to show the team at Memorial Hermann what we design for them this year! You can view more pictures from our visit by following this link. To share your photos from the visit with other students and volunteers who couldn't attend, please follow this link to upload them (Google login required) or email them to students@acementorhouston.org.

November 14th/15th: Intro to Architecture

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from their Intro to Architecture session

November 28th/29th: Introduction to Construction

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from their Intro to Construction session

December 5th/6th: Introduction to Engineering

Learning goals:

Click the link above to watch the recording from the Virtual Team meeting from their Intro to Engineering session

December 9th: Aia Gingerbread Build-Off

This weekend, our incredible team of gingerbread builders brought home the 1st Place Trophy in the High School Category at the AIA Gingerbread Build-Off at Levy Park! Our team’s creation featured the Art Car Parade driving through the beautiful new Memorial Park Land Bridge. It was a stiff competition with lots of phenomenal entries, and we’re so proud of our high school students for bringing home the top prize!


The icing on top of the gingerbread house? Word got around to our new friends at the Memorial Park Conservancy about our masterpiece honoring their iconic project, and our creation will be on display at their next board meeting. It’s clear that signature projects like their Land Bridge are helping inspire the next generation of architects, contractors, and engineers in the Houston area.


Our 15th year of mentoring in Houston sure is shaping up to be a memorable one. Congratulations to our team of student builders for their hard work and creativity; thank you to our volunteer mentors for making these opportunities possible for our high school students; and huge shout out to AIA Houston and Architecture Center Houston for another fantastic event – we’ll be back next year to defend our title! 

December 12th/13th: Fall Deliverable Presentations

This week our students were asked to do a short presentation on what project they are most interested in working on this year, what are of the AEC industry they are interested in taking the lead on, and their initial ideas or inspiration for their projects. We can't wait to see these projects come to life over the spring semester as they prepare for our Student Design Competition on April 13th. Thanks for a great first semester of the 2023-2024 year, our exciting 15th year of mentoring in Houston!

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