Albany, NY Each year since 2011, the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York (ACEC New York) has provided a high school student participating in the ACE Mentor Program of Greater New York with a $3,000 legacy scholarship to be used towards pursuing a degree in engineering. This initiative is part of an on-going focus on supporting the built environment by encouraging and fostering the next generation of engineers. Hannah O’Grady, ACEC New York vice president, serves on the executive committee of ACE Mentor of Greater New York, and Jay Simson, ACEC New York president & CEO, is a member of the board of directors for ACE Mentor of Upstate New York.

This year, the scholarship was awarded to Kevin Reyes, a senior at Staten Island Technical High School who is attending Cornell University. “The glimpses into the field showed me an area unseen previously, and it was very welcoming,” said Reyes in his application essay. “The groups of engineers working...showed [me] the greatest aspects of being an engineer, and I enjoy[ed] every minute of it.”

ACE Mentor is a not-for-profit organization that helps prepare high school students for careers in design and construction through mentoring by industry professionals. ACE Mentor has chapters across the nation, including five in New York State, serving the New York Metro, Hudson Valley, Rochester, Upstate, and Western regions. Since its inception, the program has served over 10,000 students in New York Metro area. 

Many ACEC New York member firms participate in the program, including three of the firms represented on the scholarship winner’s Team 21: Thornton Tomasetti, Mueser Rutledge and Jaros, Baum & Bolles. 

Many past ACE Mentor student participants who are pursuing a college degree in engineering apply for an ACEC New York scholarship. In 2018, 7 of the nineteen ACEC New York scholarship recipients participated in the ACE Mentor program: Kelly Grogan (Civil Engineering), Manhattan College; Leah McGovern (Civil Engineering), Manhattan College; Nicole Kaiser (Civil Engineering), Manhattan College; Kristy Calungsod (Environmental Engineering), City University of New York; Keila Peralta (Civil Engineering), Alfred State; Emily White (Civil Engineering), Manhattan College; Elizabeth Lisk (Civil Engineering), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

For more information on the ACE Mentor Program of Greater New York, including how to volunteer as a mentor or participate as a student, visit www.acementor.org.

ACEC New York is a proactive coalition of 270 firms representing every discipline of engineering related to the built environment—civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, environmental, geotechnical—and affiliated companies. Our shared goals are to further the business interests of our membership, enhance the quality and safety of the environment we live and work in, and help ensure the vitality of our communities.

ACEC New York ACE Mentor of Greater N.Y. Firms

AECOM                                                                                

AKF Group LLC                                                                  

Arup                                                                                      

Cerami & Associates, Inc.                                              

Collado Engineering

Cosentini Associates, Inc.                                                             

DeSimone Consulting Engineers                                

Gannett Fleming

GC Eng & Associates                                                       

Gilsanz Murray Steficek

Greenman-Pedersen, Inc.                                            

Hazen and Sawyer 

H2M architects + engineers

HDR

HNTB

Jacobs                                                                                                         

Jaros Baum & Bolles                                                                              

Langan Engineering

LERA

Lilker Associates                                                                             

M-E Engineers                                                                                         

MG Engineering

Mueser Rutledge

Naik Group

NV5

STV Group

Severud Associates 

Silman 

STANTEC 

Syska Hennessy 

Group 

Thornton Tomasetti 

VHB

WSP USA

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