Civiltech is committed to providing meaningful student outreach through volunteer opportunities and organizational sponsorships. As part of this commitment, Civiltech has enjoyed an ongoing partnership with Embarc, a non-profit organization that provides community-driven, experience-based learning opportunities to under-resourced Chicago high school students. Embarc works to inspire these students, prepare them for college and career success, and create an awareness of various career opportunities. Civiltech has worked with Embarc for the past 10 years providing classroom and on-site experiences for students from a variety of CPS High Schools to help create interest in Transportation Engineering and related technical fields.
In April of this year, Civiltech hosted an Embarc outreach event with a group of students from Uplift High School. Civiltech’s Giana Civito, Armando Sanchez, Louis Pukelis, Froy Castillo, Jr., and Chris Wolff created an experience that challenged the students to think like roadway designers. The team led the students on a tour around the Chicago Loop while reviewing existing plans for LaSalle Street. The tour guides pointed out features of the roadways and how the designs respond to the needs of users of the downtown streets.
The students then met in Civiltech’s Chicago office. Working in groups, the students used Streetmix, an open-source platform for designing and visualizing street and streetscape designs, and redesigned LaSalle Street. Each group shared their designs and answered questions about their decisions. The students then had the opportunity to share lunch and network with the Civiltech team.