Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro Congratulates Local Students on National Green Energy Award

Mentors from Three CBIA Member Companies Guided Student Teams

 

 

Pictured is the New Haven design team with Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro. From left to right: Jennifer Boyle, a mentor for the ACE New Haven Team, employed at Edward Stanley Engineers; Elizabeth Amado, ACE student and senior at Hamden High School; Congresswoman DeLauro; Seth Kirschner, ACE student and senior at Branford High School; Charles Aungst, a mentor for the ACE New Haven team, employed at Trane Co.; and Maria Loitz, president of the Connecticut affiliate of the ACE Mentor Program of America, and marketing manager at BVH Integrated Services. All three businesses providing mentors are CBIA member companies.

 

Congresswoman Rosa L. DeLauro (CT-3) welcomed students from New Haven and Branford to her office to celebrate their success in a national design competition organized by the Construction Industry Round Table and the ACE Mentor Program of America.

 

Founded in 1994, the ACE Mentor Program is active in 36 states. The program pairs professionals from 72 different affiliates in the architecture, construction, and engineering fields with high school students to introduce them to the various aspects of each profession. The mission of the program is to engage, excite, and enlighten high school students, encouraging them to pursue careers in the integrated design industry and supporting them along the way through mentoring and scholarships. The students gain practical knowledge as they work alongside their mentors during 15 after-school sessions. They then apply what they have learned to real-world projects in the national design competition. The ACE program has operated in Connecticut for the past ten years and has involved more than 1,200 students.

 

Maria Loitz is president of the Connecticut affiliate of the ACE Mentor Program of America. She also serves on CBIA's Energy Workforce Development Consortium and on the advisory board for Hartford's Academy of Engineering and Green Technology, which receives ongoing support from CBIA's Education Foundation.

 

"This national design competition," she says, "represents the best projects from ACE chapters across the country. Two of the three finalists were from Connecticut, reflecting the dedication of the mentors to the program and the students' enthusiasm for learning more about the design and construction industries." All Connecticut ACE students that presented in this competition plan on pursuing a college degree in architecture or engineering, Loitz adds.

 

Designs for a Better Community

Two teams from Connecticut were among the three finalists chosen to participate in the national competition in Washington, D.C., this year. The team from New Haven presented the second-place winning design, a sustainable design row house complex proposed for East Haven, Connecticut. The proposal included three prototypes, each designed to transform the largely abandoned site into a thriving community for working professionals and families. Of the ten-member team, four students will be graduating this year and pursuing college degrees in architecture or engineering.

 

“I am so proud to see students from Connecticut competing and winning competitions at the national level,” said Congresswoman DeLauro. “Their second-place finish is an amazing feat, and the students and mentors should be very proud of their accomplishments. The hard work and dedication of both the mentors and students resulted in an innovative design for a sustainable housing complex in part of East Haven in need of revitalization, and I commend their innovative vision for our communities.”