معلومــة

National awards recognize 32 standout projects from Washington state to Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON  ––  The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) has announced the 2026 National Design-Build Project/Team Award Merit Winners, recognizing 32 projects across 10 categories. Selected by a jury of design-build professionals, this year’s Merit Award recipients represent a wide range of project types, markets and approaches to design-build delivery. “Behind every award-winning project is an exceptional design-build team,” DBIA Executive Director/CEO Lisa Washington, CAE, said. “The people behind these projects demonstrate what can be achieved when expertise and ingenuity are paired with a shared commitment to excellence. Their work shows design-build at its best, bringing people together to drive innovation and deliver better outcomes that create lasting value for Owners and the communities they serve.” AVIATION • Alaska Airlines North Main Terminal Redevelopment ...

CHICAGO – Clear Creek in Golden, Colo., needs a new steel pedestrian bridge—and the hypothetical owners are turning to students at colleges and universities to make it happen! That’s the challenge the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers have set for the 2027  Student Steel Bridge Competition . To solve it, the students must design a bridge, analyze and optimize their design, then fabricate a 1:10 scale version in steel so it can be constructed and tested in real life.  They’ll have to tackle the same challenges a real engineer would in this situation as they figure out how to provide clearance for kayaking and other river recreation, stay within limited construction zones, build without piers, and remotely stage materials and equipment—all while balancing strength, stability, aesthetics, construction time, and cost. Teams of student engineers will face off in regional competitions across North America in t...

Denver, CO —  Around the world, the most effective development efforts are increasingly being led by local organizations and communities. Engineers Without Borders USA (EWB-USA)’s new Purposeful Partnership Model (PPM) reflects this evolution, strengthening local leadership while connecting volunteers, governments, nonprofits, and funders around long-term strategies for sustainable infrastructure. The Purposeful Partnership Model brings together EWB-USA volunteers, in-country nonprofit organizations, community leaders, government agencies, and funders around a shared strategy for each country. Rather than treating each project as a separate effort, the model connects partners and projects with national and international development goals so they can share knowledge, respond to regional priorities, and  build on experience. The model  builds on nearly two decades of EWB-USA work in several participating countries. Completed projects in key part...

Washington’s 22-year tenure helped transform DBIA’s reach, influence and role in the design-build industry WASHINGTON — Lisa Washington, CAE, Executive Director/CEO of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA), has announced that she will retire in 2027, concluding more than 22 years with DBIA, including 17 years as its chief executive. Washington will continue to lead the organization while the National Board conducts a search for her successor, with a transition anticipated by mid-2027. Prominently displayed in Washington’s office is a reminder of the first three organizational goals she set when she arrived at DBIA in 2004. She achieved all three, and she has been setting new ones ever since. When Washington joined DBIA, design-build was still widely considered an alternative project delivery method, and the organization was largely focused on building understanding and acceptance of its use. Today, design-build is mainstream, and DBIA has evolved to define and advan...

ST. LOUIS – KAI recently joined the community in celebrating the official completion of  Urban Sprouts Child Development Center’s  new retail café, support office building and outdoor learning space in University City, Missouri. KAI served as construction manager at risk (CMAR) and provided MEP design-build management on the $2.3 million adaptive reuse project. Located at 6757 Olive Boulevard, Urban Sprouts currently serves 120 children ages 6 weeks to 6 years and is one of the only childcare operators in the St. Louis area to utilize the Reggio Emilia educational approach, which emphasizes child-guided learning and exploration. The growing nonprofit organization was founded in 2009 by educator and advocate Ellicia Lanier, who wanted to bring quality, affordable childcare to an underserved community. With a waiting list of more than 450 families, Urban Sprouts responded to community demand for childcare in 2024 by renovating its existing 14,200-square-foot building an...

Thornton Tomasetti, the international engineering, science and design firm, has opened a new office in Phoenix, Arizona. The move strengthens the firm’s presence in one of the nation’s fastest-growing metropolitan markets and provides clients with enhanced local support. The firm has taken 1,712 square feet at 21410 North 19th Street in the Deer Valley area of North Phoenix for a term of five years. The new office will manage Thornton Tomasetti’s growing project portfolio in Arizona, including several industrial and advanced manufacturing facilities. Its initial focus will be on delivering structural engineering and construction engineering services to clients in a wide range of sectors. The local team will draw on Thornton Tomasetti’s multidisciplinary expertise across the organization to provide integrated, full-service solutions. “Phoenix is one of the most dynamic and rapidly expanding markets in the country,” Associate Principal Gregory Litterick, who will be leading ...

ElevateAEC 2026 will be upon us in just a few short weeks, but before the doors open in Park City, we’re opening the doors to the archive. Conference agendas. Keynote memories. Photo booth strips. Celebrations captured just moments before the room erupted. On their own, they’re snapshots of conferences past. Together, they tell a much bigger story.  Over the years, ElevateAEC has moved from city to city and moment to moment, following an industry that has been changing right alongside it. The conversations have evolved. New ideas have taken the stage. New leaders have emerged, but every year has added something to what comes next.  Consider this our walk through the years at ElevateAEC. One year, one moment, and one step closer to 2026 at a time.  2021: Denver, CO  Hyatt Regency Denver | November 3-5, 2021  2022 Conference Agenda  Eighteen months after the world shut down, this agenda represented a return to something that had once see...