Academics & Research Committee

OVERVIEW

The Academics and Research Committee, established in 2020, is for building connections between APTI and academic stakeholders at the student, faculty/researcher, and program levels; to encourage partnerships between academics and practitioners; to promote and advance the APTI Research Agenda, and to unify APT's approach to collaboration with academic stakeholders.

CURRENT INITIATIVES:

UMASS+ Brutalism Graduate Student Research Fellowship

This is a student summer fellowship of 14 weeks of research in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and APT. It seeks to demonstrate (through a real-world case study) how historically appropriate renovations and deep energy retrofits are critical to curbing carbon emissions associated with New England's vast stock of architecturally significant "brutalist" buildings. The research will be published in APTIV Technical Bulletin and Student presentation at the 2024 APTNE/APTI Annual Symposium.

 

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STEAM Through Heritage Preservation

This initiative is undertaken in collaboration with the National Council for Preservation Education (NCPE) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA), Historic Resources Committee (HRC), to develop a six-unit experiential curriculum that provides instructors with unique, relevant content and activities that teach middle school standards while igniting students’ interest in heritage preservation, architecture, and engineering. The curriculum is developed with continuous input from teachers and experts in the field of preservation education to develop this program with an equity lens in mind, recognizing the need to commemorate, honor, and conserve the histories of historically neglected and underrepresented communities.

This curriculum was piloted in in Boston and is currently being developed in Indiana with the support of Indiana Humanities and Indiana Landmarks under the Indiana Humanities Historic Preservation Education Grant.

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Historic Preservation Design Projects

This initiative helps local organizations to develop highly engaging and purposeful historic preservation design projects. The 2023 restoration and reuse project of 4098 Fullerton Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, was part of this initiative. In partnership with ACE Southeastern Michigan and the Detroit Landbank Authority, APTI ARC is working with local high school students for the restoration of a modernist 1960s home in Historic Russell Woods, designed by Nathan Johnson.

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Co-Chairs:
Michael Tomlan
Lena Currie