Behind the Scenes of the PCI Foundation Curriculum Development Grant

As the PCI Foundation has grown and developed, the programs we work with have grown right alongside us. In the beginning, the trustees saw how successful we could be using the design studio approach at schools of architecture to teach precast and help the material integrate into more of the curriculum. However, as more schools became involved, we found that each school has a unique approach to education and we can play a helpful role that caters to that school’s needs. While some of our programs are studios similar to the first program at Illinois Institute of Technology, most of what we do has become providing curriculum development grants. Nearly every industry and area of study we want to work with must develop and present new curriculum - whether it be as part of an architecture, bridge, engineering, real estate, or construction management program. 

Since 2007, the PCI Foundation has focused on providing curriculum development grants to schools of architecture, engineering and construction management. These grants allow professors to partner with local precast fabricators, engineers and architects to create unique content that cultivates productive relationships between the precast industry and the academic community, develops high-potential students for production careers within the precast industry and facilitates including precast concrete information and technologies in university curricula.   So how does this work?