On October 16, the engineering students that were part of the Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) Mentoring Program were able to attend a field trip to Simpson Strong-Ties Riverside warehouse location, learning about the trade professions and gaining deeper insight on the processes in manufacturing construction parts. 

With it being Trades Week, the goal of the field trip was to educate members of the ACE Mentoring program on the different professions and careers available outside of the traditional college route. Especially with many high school students still navigating what they want to pursue, the trip to Simpson Strong-Ties was an opportunity to open students’ minds and opinions to these professions.

“The whole point of navigating high school, besides picking up a more advanced level of learning as it relates to our core classes, is to try to expand our awareness and understanding of things that we’re interested in and possibly could be good at,” Collins said. 

While many current engineering students may be looking at majors targeting the pure engineering disciplines, this trip aimed to educate students on how the construction industry works and to allow students to test whether construction was a viable career for them.

“I don’t like teaching a class where I feel like I’m having a certain amount of the population that doesn’t intend to go to college feel like they’re wasting their time,” Collins said. “I want them to know that they have an advocate. They have an opportunity and so trying to bring more of those career pathways to their attention can allow them to make a meaningful choice to at least learn more about it and ask other people in the industry.”

As part of the field trip, students were able to tour the facilities, test tools made by the company, and interact with workers who worked in the different departments of the business. The interactions with the workers were set up in a press conference manner and students were surprised to see the number of successful individuals who were able to reach high-level positions without a college degree. 

“What stood out to me was that you could be very successful in life just by knowing the skills or there’s even opportunities where you can learn a new skill [within Simpson Strong-Ties] and use that to help you find a career in the future,” current Civil Engineering and Architecture (CEA) student Lyon Zhu (11) said. 

Although many students may be set on the college pathway and mindset, this field trip embraced the world of blue-collar workers and changed preconceived notions of the trade industry. 

“A lot of the classes I’ve taken never allowed me to be a very hands-on learner, but when we got to use a lot of different power tools and learn from simulations that employees helped to put together, it made me realize how a career in trades is more interesting than before,” current Engineering Design and Development (EDD) student, Kate Lin (12) said.