The University of Wyoming will co-host the 2025 Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI) conference in Kansas City this upcoming spring. Wyoming will work with Kansas State University to plan and present the bi-annual conference which will take place from April 13-16, 2025.
“It’s a big commitment for one individual or for one university to [host],” said Derek Clements, the conference chair and an assistant professor at Kansas State. “Kansas State reached out to several universities…and fortunately Wyoming was super excited about the opportunity,” he said.
Since this relationship was formed, Clements has worked with professors here at UW to make sure everything runs smoothly. “It’s been fantastic,” said Celments. “We’ve been working with [Dr.] Demir and [Dr.] Denzer…and they have been great at reaching out to potential sponsors as well as potential keynote speakers,” he said.
This year’s conference is titled, “Delivering Future Ready Buildings: An Integrated Approach.”
“It’s always a challenge to try and come up with a conference topic that we feel like is broad enough for the scope, since we’re trying to bring together not only the engineering side, but also architects, construction, even building owners,” said Clements. “[Also], how can we engage students and get them prepared for what we anticipate the future market is going to look like?,” he continued.
“Taking both those ideas we came up with the theme,” Celments said.
This event will allow students from Wyoming and Kansas State to interact and network. “The community around AEI is such a tight knit thing,” said Joe Schmidt, president of the Kansas State AEI chapter. “There’s so many people that I have met…and we all have common interests. Being able to compare perspectives and share those experiences, [along with] all you will learn…is such a valuable experience,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt has been involved in several conferences in his time at Kansas State, and he recognizes the value in getting engaged.
“One of the best ways to get introduced to a lot of different things is just going to these events,” said Schmidt. “There’s stuff that you just can’t learn or even really know about unless you go. It’s just about surrounding yourself with positive resources,” he said.
“We’re trying to get as many people involved as possible,” said Schmidt. “It’s all very valuable, and we had a good experience with it last year,” he said.
Heading into the school year, Clements had advice for students in architectural engineering, but it’s advice for all students. “Push yourself,” he said.
“Make sure you are at the conference, it’s going to be a blast,” Clements concluded.
