When senior Kim Tran thought about returning for her second year to the Architecture Construction Engineering (ACE) club, she said she was excited to gain hands-on experience for a future career in engineering.

“Not only has it taught me how to work well with other people, but also other things about interior design,” Tran said.

The club has two options for a project, according to adviser Al Wachutka.

“We found out that we have a choice of two historic renovations to work on,” Wachutka said. “Either the old Ford Plant in St. Paul or the Minneapolis Armory. What we’ll be doing is a renovation plan for one of those places.”

Wachutka said ACE spends its early meetings planning out the project and gathering information about the sites.

“The mentors share a lot of information with us, then we start to develop a plan from that and start to construct that plan,” Wachutka said. “Not literally construct but more 3D modeling, 2D modeling.”

Tran said the first meeting introduced a lot of new people.

“We have lots of new people that are more interested in diverse skill sets,” Tran said. “I know a lot of people are going to be working on interior design, so I’ll be giving them tips. Along with the new members there’s also new challenges and new mentors.”

Wachutka said the first meeting is an introduction for new members and mentors as well as a time to introduce the curriculum.

“All the mentors but one are new, so it’s a whole new crew and there’s a lot of new students, so it’s cool to have influx,” Wachutka said. “We’ll have about six people returning and about 10 new people.”

Sophomore Ethan Rickert, a new ACE member, said he is excited to join the club.

“I think it’s going to be a good experience and I hope it’s going to run smoothly,” Rickert said. “I look forward to the chance to plan an engineering design and blueprints and also work on an actual engineering team.”

Tran said she is grateful for the mentorship program because it taught her skills that she can use outside of ACE.

“At the end of ACE, you take part in a presentation. It helped me learn to speak louder and be more confident in what I’ve done,” Tran said.

Tran said the atmosphere is different from other clubs.

“It’s a really relaxed group,” Tran said. “You expect a club centered on engineering and architecture to be really intense but it’s actually very relaxing.”

The next meeting takes place at 3:15 p.m. Oct. 22 in C250.