February 1, 2018

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Washington, DC & Morristown, NJ – February 1, 2018

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and Schindler Elevator Corporation are proud to announce its second year of partnership. We have teamed up to bring the Elevate Your Pitch elevator pitch competition to the AIAS membership for the second year in a row. This competition presents students with a unique opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges for a chance to win recognition and earn one of three cash prizes.

“The response to last year’s Elevate Your Pitch competition was fantastic,” says Mike Ramandanes, senior vice president; New Installations, Schindler Elevator Corporation. “We are so pleased to partner with the American Institute of Architecture Students again in 2018 with another competition geared to ignite the minds of the next generation of architects.”

An elevator pitch is a quick description of your business and/or idea in the time it would take to ride up an elevator (60 seconds to 3 minutes). Presenting yourself effectively is an essential tool in the architectural profession; it can lead to new partnerships, new clients, and ultimately, new business. Ideas may be at any stage of development, ranging from creation of concepts, to an established business or product. This year, we are expanding the competition to include other disciplines at each university, provided one member per team is an AIAS member. This will allow AIAS members to collaborate with students in business, communications, or engineering disciplines to come up with a truly innovative pitch.

Last year’s third-place finalist, Caitlin Kessler of the University of Arizona, remarked at AIAS FORUM, “The Elevate Your Pitch competition was such a unique and fun experience. Through evolving and pitching an idea, I developed upon my own self-confidence and ability to communicate. The entire process was rewarding in itself. I would do it again in a heartbeat!”

The competition will run from February 1, 2018 to June 1, 2018, at which point a jury of various backgrounds will select the top entries. The finalists will be notified and asked to join us at the AIAS Grassroots Leadership Conference held in Washington, D.C. on July 19-22, 2018, where they will introduce their video and compete in the finals.

Details are available at www.aias.org/pitch and submissions will be due by Friday, June 1, 2018. Winners will be announced in July at the AIAS Grassroots Leadership Conference.

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ABOUT THE AIAS

The American Institute of Architecture Students is a non-profit, student-run organization dedicated to programs, information and resources on issues critical to architecture and the experience of education. For more information, visit www.aias.org or call Kimberly Tuttle at (202) 808-0036.

ABOUT SCHINDLER ELEVATOR CORPORATION

Schindler Elevator Corporation is the North American operation of the Switzerland-based Schindler Group, a leading global mobility provider of elevators, escalators and related services. Schindler supports sustainable urban development with safe, reliable and sustainable mobility solutions, moving more than one billion people every day all over the world. Behind the company’s success are over 60,000 employees operating in more than 100 countries. For additional information about Schindler Elevator Corporation, visit the company’s Web site at www.us.schindler.com