(LEE’S SUMMIT, MO., July 5, 2018) – The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design has recognized the design of the Missouri Innovation Campus (MIC) with an American Architecture Award for 2018.

The American Architecture Awards pay tribute to new developments in design and underscores the directions and understanding of current cutting-edge processes consistent with today’s design thinking. The program is dedicated to the recognition of excellence in architecture and urbanism in the United States.

The MIC design is redefining who a “student” is and reshaping the delivery of education. Located in Lee’s Summit, Mo., the MIC is a STEM focused facility serving 600 Lee’s Summit R-7 School District students and 1,200 University of Central Missouri students. High school graduates can earn an associate’s degree, followed by a bachelor’s degree two years later. These benefits translate into earlier graduation, less college debt, and higher job placement. Bachelor degree programs in systems engineering technology, design and drafting technology, computer science, and cybersecurity are available to the MIC’s high school and college students.

DLR Group, and design partner Gould Evans, created a facility that supports a diverse and flexible program to evolve as future careers are invented. Curriculum and instruction is a collaboration among the academic partners and local industry, with students age 16 to 30 working in a classroom and laboratories towards the same degree.