Crowdfunding initiatives highlight important needs

Crowdfunding initiatives highlight important needs

Detroit Mercy is launching a series of crowdfunding initiatives through the Office of Annual Giving that will impact the success of students as they work toward their degrees.

Detroit Mercy seeks donor support for these initiatives to ensure that students are able to compete and participate in opportunities that help extend their learning through hands-on application. The following provides a description of each crowdfunding opportunity.

Crowdfunding sites for each of these projects open Feb. 11, 2019.

To learn more about these specific projects and the University’s overall crowdfunding efforts, please visit https://impact.udmercy.edu/.

Concrete Canoe 2019
Detroit Mercy’s American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Concrete Canoe Team designs, builds and races a concrete canoe (yes, it actually floats) annually against other schools. The competition gives Civil Engineering students the opportunity to learn how to design and test concrete, work on a large-scale project within a strict schedule and work as part of a team. This project requires funding for travel and lodging for the competition. Tax-deductible donations will aid the team in purchasing the materials necessary to construct this year’s canoe and compete in the conference. From April 12-14, Detroit Mercy’s team will compete against other universities in the North Central region in a race as well as a judged contest on the aspects of canoe design. Information regarding the team presentation and technical report are available at https://impact.udmercy.edu/concretecanoe19.

Chem Club Travel Fund for ACS National Meeting
The Detroit Mercy Chem Club (ACS Student Mentors) has been rated as outstanding by the National American Chemical Society (ACS) for the last 14 years. Tax-deductible donations to this fund will help the club travel to the ACS national meeting to present research and receive their award. The club will also receive a designation as a Green Chemistry Chapter. To learn more about this crowdfunding initiative, please visit https://impact.udmercy.edu/chemclub.

College of Engineering & Science, Pre-College, Student Ambassadors Outreach
The College of Engineering and Science (E&S) has implemented a Student Ambassador Program. The purpose is to meet, visit and showcase the College of Engineering & Science through various on- and off-campus activities with prospective engineering students. In fall 2018, the college reached more than 800 high school and middle school students through various activities. Donations to this program will assist with the purchase of engineering/science kits and supplies to showcase activities in K-12 schools by E&S Student Ambassadors; provide transportation to and from K-12 schools meeting with E&S Student Ambassadors (includes bussing K-12 students to Detroit Mercy); and meals for students visiting campus. This year’s goal is to expand on the success of the E&S Student Ambassador Program to expose students to careers in STEM fields, increase Detroit Mercy student pipelines to various STEM activities and to ultimately increase the recruitment/enrollment of students into engineering and science majors through direct student-to-student contact. For more on this initiative, please visit https://impact.udmercy.edu/ambassador.

Fr. Albright Student Research Travel Fund
Student attendance at research conferences is extremely important for their academic development and to help them gain self-confidence in their field. Being able to bridge in-class experiences with real-world scientific research will help undergraduate researchers grow academically. Additionally, attending and presenting at state and national conferences may help boost acceptance into post-graduate programs. The cost of attending conferences, however, is prohibitive to most students. Contributions to the Fr. Albright Student Travel Fund will help offset costs and allow undergraduate researchers to showcase the important research taking place at Detroit Mercy. For more, visit https://impact.udmercy.edu/biologytravel.

Other crowdfunding initiatives that are currently ongoing and need support include the following.