The AEI Professional Project Awards: Why AEC Firms Should Pursue Them 

[00:00:00] Nick Piteo: The engineers — the folks that really help to complete these projects — are seldom given the spotlight, and many don’t want the spotlight. We’ll be fair about that too. But a lot of times you just don’t hear about the engineering teams. Maybe you hear about something if there’s a problem or if there’s something really special going on. But for the most part, engineers are sort of forgotten and in the background.

[00:00:27] Announcer: Welcome to Spill the Ink, a podcast by Reputation Ink, where we feature experts in growth and brand visibility for law firms and architecture, engineering and construction firms. Now let’s get started with the show.

[00:00:44] Steven Gallo: Hey, everyone. I’m Steven Gallo, your host and the vice president of client services at Reputation Ink. We’re a public relations and thought leadership marketing agency for B2B professional service firms, including those in architecture, engineering and construction. To learn more, go to rep-ink — that’s ink with a K — .com.

Quick question. Can you name a famous architect? Maybe, probably, right? Frank Lloyd Wright, Zaha Hadid, Santiago Calatrava — there are a few more out there. But if I were to ask you to name a famous engineer, that might be a harder question to answer. And the AEI Professional Project Awards are trying to change that.

I’m sitting down today with Nick Piteo, a principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, and he chairs the jury for the Architectural Engineering Institute’s Professional Project Awards. These awards are run by AEI, which is part of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and today we’re going to talk about why these awards matter and what it takes to put together a winning submission. Nick, welcome to the show, and thanks for coming on.

[00:01:50] Nick Piteo: Hi. Thanks for having me, Steven.

[00:01:53] Steven Gallo: Set the stage for us. What are the AEI Professional Project Awards, and why do they exist?

[00:02:01] Nick Piteo: As you stated in your intro, almost everyone thinks of architects when it comes to buildings and architecture, and they may even know several names of the famous architects out there. But the engineers — the folks that really help to complete these projects — are seldom given the spotlight, and many don’t want the spotlight. We’ll be fair about that too. But a lot of times you just don’t hear about the engineering teams. Maybe you hear about something if there’s a problem or if there’s something really special going on. But for the most part, engineers are sort of forgotten and in the background. With the AEI — the Architectural Engineering Institute, part of ASCE — we focus on the engineering aspect of buildings in particular, and we’re trying to recognize those folks doing a great job helping to develop this built environment around us in a special way and helping architects to really achieve their visions.

[00:02:58] Steven Gallo: And you make a fair point about engineers, who a lot of times shy away from the limelight, but they deserve their credit too — and that’s what this is about, because they’re huge pieces and elements of these projects. You chair the jury for the awards, so tell us a bit about who’s reviewing these submissions and what they bring to the table.

[00:03:18] Nick Piteo: Our jury is made up of industry professionals, and they come from different walks of life. I think we should probably start out with what the different award categories are.

[00:03:30] Nick Piteo: There are discipline-specific awards, including construction management and methods, electrical systems, mechanical systems, structural systems and — let me consult my notes — lighting systems. When we look at the building as a whole, long gone are the days of the master builder, where one individual was in charge of the entire project and really knew everything about it. Our buildings have just gotten too complex and our systems are too complex for one individual to really lead all the charge. We need a bunch of specialists, and a lot of times those specialists are engineers. With those discipline-specific categories, those are some of the key specialists we see on the engineering side in the built environment, specifically with buildings. We’re selecting folks who are out there doing this day in and day out, designing all the different engineering systems — generally folks with a decent amount of experience. We usually ask for people with about 10 years of experience, and we look at that on a case-by-case basis. We’re looking for people who’ve been there and done that, who really know what it takes to design and construct a good project and all the ins and outs and coordination that go into these projects as an essential team member.

[00:05:05] Steven Gallo: They are complex puzzles, for sure. You mentioned the categories, which is important to touch on. Who should be applying for these awards? As a firm, what types of projects, disciplines and sectors is this really open to and ideal for?

[00:05:24] Nick Piteo: The awards are open to really anyone designing and constructing buildings in the different categories — mechanical engineering firms, lighting firms, structural engineering firms, contractors who have a really good project, and even architects, who are often the ones leading the teams. We get submissions from more diversified AE-type firms where they have a lot of those folks on staff, but it’s still usually the architect who’s leading the charge and often the one best suited to collect these team members together. It’s a bunch of different walks of life and different professions we see coming together on these submissions.

[00:06:04] Steven Gallo: The program evaluates things like integration and collaboration, constructability and use of technology. From the jury’s seat, what really separates a winning entry from a good-but-not-great one?

[00:06:26] Nick Piteo: Great question, and it’s always so tough because we get some really impressive projects coming through the door — things like the Las Vegas Sphere, some massive airport projects and some things on a more municipal level. What we’re looking for is what makes your project special and what did you do out there that made this project stand out. Sometimes on construction, for example, it’s the just-in-time delivery for a really tight project site that took a lot of coordination that people don’t often think about. The logistics and supply chain are incredibly complex, and when you don’t have space to store your materials on site, it ratchets up a whole other level. We want to hear those stories. What was your big challenge? What made this difficult? What made this special? What makes your project more energy efficient? What process did you go through? These jury members are people who’ve done this and walked the walk, so we want to hear the details — the ins and the outs, to the extent we can. I don’t want a novel. I don’t want to have to read a 100-page novel about all this. We’re asking you to summarize a lot of information in a pretty succinct form. It’s a one- to two-page description. But still, there’s a lot you can tell. A lot of story can come across there.

[00:07:54] Steven Gallo: This is the time, within reason, to get in the weeds and into some of those details that really tell the story of what made the project unique.

[00:08:03] Nick Piteo: That’s right. A lot of us are engineers on the jury, so we want to nerd out on the details like that.

[00:08:09] Steven Gallo: You described a disconnect that can often occur between marketing teams and engineers when putting together a submission like this. Getting those two parties to align on the story, the details and the message — we hear about it a lot. From your experience, how can firms do that better and make that collaboration more effective in translating the expertise from engineers to in-house communications professionals or folks assisting them in pulling it all together?

[00:08:50] Nick Piteo: We see a bunch of different types of submissions — different ways people put them together. But the key ones tend to be either the marketing team is almost solely responsible for the submission or the engineer who worked on the project is almost solely responsible. There’s inevitably some communication back and forth, but communication is really key between the folks because we want to have the story and get some of the details. But at the same time, you need to tell a story throughout the whole thing. As engineers, my experience is that a lot of us are really good at getting into the details — but maybe our storytelling could use a little help. That’s where marketing folks are really good: telling the story, getting the details out there and visualizing it. As a technical person, I would be happy to give you that 100-page novel — just write and write and write and get really deep in the details. The marketing folks will rein me in a little bit and say, “Come on back. Let’s get some pictures. Let’s really show the things you’re most proud of here and help relay the story in a way that is really compelling.” So it’s collaboration between both sides to tell the story, but also give enough of the details, recognizing that we are a technical institute in the industry and part of ASCE.

[00:10:16] Steven Gallo: Just really connecting all those dots. We often say to our clients and subject matter experts, “Just bring all the details. Brain dump that novel. We will help shape, streamline and refine — what are the key details to include? How does this serve the story?” Because these are complex, huge projects and you can easily get into a lot. But I want to talk about what happens when folks win these awards and get recognized. A win like this is prestigious in itself, but the benefit goes beyond just that recognition for the firm. It carries forward in terms of business development, recruiting and client relationships. Tell me how that’s looked in the past, and if you have any examples of how this has served firms.

[00:11:12] Nick Piteo: Whenever you get a win, we give you an award — and we’ve been updating the award a couple times over the years — along with a certificate, and we blast the results out on the website to give folks recognition as a winner. That in itself is probably the thing that first comes to everyone’s mind: we have a way of saying, “This project was recognized by industry peers as something outstanding, something that truly went the extra mile,” and we want to show that off. The other parts are what else comes out of it. You mentioned recruiting — when we present these awards, it’s at the annual AEI Conference, and part of that typically includes a student competition. As far as architectural engineering is concerned as a major in college, there aren’t a ton of schools that even have the program. When I went through an architectural engineering program, there were only 13 schools in the country that had architectural engineering as a discipline, and now it’s still south of 30. A lot of them are coming to this event and competing. They’re seeing these projects, seeing these names and saying, “This is a place I really want to work because they’re out there, they look like they’re having fun. That project was really cool and really speaks to me.” And then it’s also meeting other folks. The jury members are industry professionals, so any time you get to make contact with other folks in your field or in other disciplines and get your name out there, it says to the jury members, “This is what these folks went through — that’s someone I’d like to work with. That was a really cool project. Maybe we could find out some more details and loop that into our next project.”

[00:13:09] Steven Gallo: And you mentioned a key point: this is an award reviewed and recognized by industry peers. This isn’t just some folks who say, “Oh, that project looks nice,” or a pay-to-play situation. These are folks on the jury who are in the field, are engineers, have this expertise and can really validate the success and uniqueness of a project — which I think is a huge piece of it compared to some other award programs that aren’t as rigorous. Is that fair to say?

[00:13:46] Nick Piteo: And that’s what we’re going for. We’re going for something that really is on the engineering and technical side so that we are getting —

[00:13:55] Steven Gallo: — into those details.

[00:14:10] Nick Piteo: Yeah. Best place to start is to go to the AEI Professional Project — or PPA — website. It’ll be pointed out in the show notes so folks can find it. That’s the best place to start, and there’s the ability to look at past years’ winners and see what types of projects are up there. There are also forms that describe the submission process for each category. It’s pretty straightforward: entry forms, written descriptions, submissions of photographs and a brief PowerPoint — less than 15 slides — to give us more information about the project and really look for that visual side of things we were talking about before. So it’s not just a wall of text; we actually get to see the beautiful projects in the end.

[00:15:06] Steven Gallo: Something we hear from members of this audience and our listeners is sometimes having to overcome that internal hurdle with leadership at the firm, or running into pushback when a marketer wants to pursue an award program like this. Or sometimes it’s “How do I have time to do one more thing, or for my team to submit for one more thing?” What’s your advice to those folks in terms of the value and how to navigate that challenge?

[00:15:41] Nick Piteo: We struggle with the same things. I always struggle on the ASCE side with when to open up submissions — because if you open it too early and still have the deadline late, people are going to wait until the last minute anyway. It’s almost never a good time to submit. There’s always some conflicting item. Our general goal has been to get the message out there as early as we can so people can get it on their calendars. Part of it is just getting the word out there more — through outreach efforts like this podcast, hoping to get the word out there so people will have it on their calendars. We’ve generally had submissions due near the end of the year, which tends to be the time when the marketing team, from what we’ve found, is on task with submitting for award submissions. There are limited resources as far as the marketing team and engineering staff preparing these submissions. We hope that by being the technical folks out there and judging on technical rigor for the engineering side, we can make it to the top of the pile. You also mentioned pushback from different folks internally, and in my mind that really comes down to two things. There is an entry fee we require in order to submit, so planning that out early on really helps. The sooner we get the message out there and the sooner people start planning for it, the easier it is. And the benefits — getting the recognition, getting the name out there, really helping to promote yourself in that way — are outstanding. When I’ve had to submit for items, there are often spaces asking, “What awards have you won in the last however many years?” It’s something that folks like to see, especially on competitive submissions. Everyone wants to have an award-winning design team in some way, shape or form.

[00:17:59] Steven Gallo: You’ve mentioned a lot about what this awards program is, what it highlights and the benefits. Are there any misconceptions or misperceptions about these awards that you hear, or questions you get that may be worth clearing up — what these awards are not, or what firms should steer clear of if they’re thinking of submitting?

[00:18:24] Nick Piteo: I haven’t heard much feedback on misconceptions or items I’d consider just on the wrong track when it comes to that. I’d love to hear more if there are any, because then it gives us an opportunity to grow, evolve and address those misconceptions.

[00:18:50] Steven Gallo: Well, then, if you could give every applicant one piece of advice — or one or two; I won’t limit you — before they click submit, what would your encouragement be?

[00:19:05] Nick Piteo: The thing I would love to see is communicating among the project team. A lot of times what we’ve seen is one firm really leading the charge — whichever discipline it is, they’re the ones out there. But what we’re looking for, especially with that integration award in particular, is the whole project team coming together and asking, “What did we do as a team to make this a good project?” Instead of having one firm, I would love to see all the folks who worked on the project get together and have one joint submission, because the entry fee is independent of how many awards you’re seeking. So if your mechanical, electrical, structural and lighting engineers and construction team all get together and coordinate, you can get a better submission — you can really tell the story and talk about all the things you did together as a team and cut down the fee. That might also be a way for folks struggling with the entry fee to spread the cost out and make it more manageable. That’s really what I’d like to see, and we don’t see a lot of it in submissions so far. It’s tended to be one firm leading the charge — maybe they get a little input from some of the others, but it’s usually driven by one entity.

[00:20:33] Steven Gallo: A level of collaboration that obviously involves planning in advance and really connecting those teams earlier on, not waiting until the last minute to submit. That makes a lot of sense because these are inherently collaborative projects, and seeing that come through on the submission is what the jury’s looking for. Can you remind us when applications are going to be opening up and when they’re due, and how folks can learn more and apply?

[00:21:08] Nick Piteo: We tend to open up applications in early fall, and that date has been flexible depending on what’s going on with conferences and other items. It varies a little bit, but it’s usually in the early fall with submissions due at the end of December or beginning of January — at the end of the year. The materials are up on the website as of now, though they’ll still reflect last year because we haven’t updated for this year’s submission yet. We did just update the winners from this past year, so you can go look at those when you go to the AEI website. That’s really the best place to start — with all the forms and examples of past winners.

[00:21:53] Steven Gallo: And still the back half of the year more or less in front of us, so plenty of time to start pulling that together. Now is the time to have those conversations and pull those details together with your engineers on projects you might be looking to submit at the end of the year. Anything else, Nick, for folks that we haven’t touched on that you’d want to leave with our audience?

[00:22:20] Nick Piteo: Just a plug for the ASCE 2027 Mega Conference. They’re going to get all the institutes together. While ASCE — the American Society of Civil Engineers — is the overarching body, there are a lot of institutes that are part of it, with AEI, the Architectural Engineering Institute, being one. We just finished up a joint conference in San Antonio in the March-April timeframe, where we had four of the institutes together, and it was sort of a test run for the big mega conference that will be in Philadelphia in 2027, when all the institutes are really coming together and taking over the Philly Convention Center. We’re going to have a good time, but it’s also more publicity for the awards — the bigger the conference, the bigger the event, the more publicity you get out of it.

[00:23:12] Steven Gallo: Fantastic. Get that on your calendars now for next year. Thank you for the heads-up on that, Nick. We’ve been talking to Nick Piteo, principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Heger and chair of the AEI PPA jury. Thank you again so much for your time today and for coming on to share your insights and a behind-the-scenes look at the awards program.

[00:23:31] Nick Piteo: Thank you so much for the opportunity.

[00:23:37] Announcer: Thanks for listening to Spill the Ink, a podcast by Reputation Ink. We’ll see you again next time, and be sure to click subscribe to get future episodes.