New York, NY On Saturday, April 1st, over 800 consulting engineers and clients attended the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York’s (ACEC New York) 50th annual Engineering Excellence Awards Gala at the New York Midtown Hilton. Awards were presented to ACEC New York member projects in the following categories: Studies, research, and consulting services; building/technology systems; structural systems; surveying and mapping technology; environmental; waste and storm water; water resources; transportation; energy; industrial and manufacturing processes and facilities; and special projects. 

“Fifty years ago, many of the innovative ideas behind these award-winning projects were impossible dreams,” said Mark McAnany, chair of ACEC New York. “Now, during our 50th annual Engineering Excellence Awards, we pause to not only look back at how far we’ve come but look forward to how far we can and will go.”

That evening, ACEC New York honored two exceptional New York government entities through named Awards of Merit. The Award of Merit honorees for 2017 are the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York Division and the New York Building Congress for their commitment to improving the infrastructure of New York through their policies and programs. Proceeds from the event benefitted the ACEC New York Scholarship Fund, formally the New York Consulting Engineering Scholarship & Educational Fund. ACEC New York also honored all the past Award of Merit honorees, including the PANYNJ, the MTA, the NYSDOT, the NYCDEP, the NYS Thruway Authority, NYCDDC, NYSEFC, and DASNY. Three scholarships were given that evening: Two in honor of the two 2017 Awards of Merit honorees and a special 50th Anniversary scholarship in honor of all the past Award of Merit honorees.

Diamond Awards were presented live to the 30 most exceptional projects, both within New York State and worldwide. Congressman John Katko (NY 24th district) and congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (NY 18th district) acted as the Masters of Ceremony for the Diamond Award presentations.

The Empire Award, the top-rated project designed and built entirely within New York State, was announced that night and presented to the Downtown Design Partnership (STV/AECOM Joint Venture) in association with Parsons Transportation and Santiago Calatrava for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. This project is a key component of the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of September 11th. It serves as a portal to the 16-acre World Trade Center site, providing seamless public access for more than 250,000 daily users of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) station and integrates with 10 Metropolitan Transportation Authority New York City Transit subway lines.

A complete listing of the award-winning projects is available on the Engineering Excellence page of ACEC New York’s website (acecny.org).