De La Salle Collegiate's STEM Director, Mr. Scott Husken, recently finished a certification course for a third engineering class. For three months, two nights a week, Husken learned the 40-week curriculum for a new course, “Civil Engineering and Architecture,” that premiers in the 2026-2027 school year.

Part of the “Project Lead the Way” curriculum, the new class replaces a former senior level engineering class, taught by the now-retired Mr. Ron Barger. 

Husken described the online training as “rigorous.”  He said, “I had to learn 40 weeks of curriculum, in 10 weeks, and I had to keep reminding myself I will have 4 or 5 days to teach a concept that I had to learn in an hour.”

In addition to the two-hour classes over ten weeks, Husken also had assigned homework of two to four hours after every class.

Students will be exposed to both residential and commercial architecture. They will be designing a “Habitat for Humanity” house as well as a library for a municipality. 

The class will culminate with a student-driven, student-designed independent study project. Students will be required to select a currently vacant plot of land or an existing commercial structure that is currently empty and will create a plan for developing it. 

As the students work through the three major design projects, they will be taught mathematical concepts used by civil engineers that keep structures safe, functioning, and environmentally-friendly.  

The implementation of this class was also driven by a meeting with the University of Detroit Mercy that involved Husken and the DLS Curriculum Director, Mrs. Annmarie Michol. 

The Dean of Engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy, Dr. Katherine Snyder, supported this initiative, pointing out that the demand for civil engineers has well exceeded the supply of students enrolled in civil engineering programs. The predicted employment growth for civil engineers is very positive. 

Husken added, “These are really scary times with the integration of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.). Experts are predicting that certain jobs and industries will be eliminated by the integration of A.I.  The construction sector is one that is insulated from A.I. to a certain degree. Due to its hands’-on nature and unpredictability, human judgement is necessary. There will be a need for humans to be onsite for many years to come.”

“Our school has many families and alumni involved in the construction industry, and they will be able to provide support for the new program,” Husken said.