The SEI Futures Fund is proud to support the 2025 SEI Graduate Student Chapter of the Year: the Colorado School of Mines Structural Engineering Institute Graduate Student Chapter (SEI GSC at Mines). This outstanding chapter has demonstrated a deep commitment to outreach and education by connecting structural engineering to real-world learning experiences for K–12 students in their local community.
Throughout the 2024–2025 academic year, the Mines SEI GSC brought structural engineering to life for 9th grade physics students at Golden View Classical Academy (GVCA). With support from the SEI Futures Fund, the chapter organized a hands-on shake table event in March 2025 where students designed, budgeted, and built model structures to test on shake tables. Guided by SEI GSC members, students had to work within material and size constraints, simulating real-world design challenges while learning about structural integrity and earthquake resilience.
This fun, fast-paced competition blended creativity, problem-solving, and engineering fundamentally the kind of early STEM engagement that inspires future engineers. Thanks to the vision and leadership of the SEI GSC at Mines, and the resources made possible through the SEI Futures Fund, dozens of students gained exposure to structural engineering in a way that was both educational and exciting.