Siemens has opened submissions for its fourth annual Engineering Innovation Award for Fire and Life Safety design. The award, which recognizes “innovative thinking and problem solving in fire/life safety system design,” is part of an effort to shine a light on consulting specifying engineers who usually do not get the credit they deserve.
The nomination period is open until March 31. The award itself will be presented on June 5 at the Siemen Engineers’ Reception in Boston. Attendance is not required to nominate or win the award.
Any consulting specifying engineering firm that has incorporated Siemens fire and life safety and technologies into an innovative design are eligible for nomination. The nominated project must be a building in North America.
“Examples of innovation may range from new applications of existing technology, to cost-effective building solutions, to meeting unique building or construction requirements,” according to a Siemens press release. “The winning entry will demonstrate an innovative solution that solved a customer’s difficult challenge of advanced the use of technology in this field.”
Nominated projects will be judged by their “level of innovation,” as well as the role Siemens technologies played in helping to achieve that innovation.
The award winner will be selected by a panel of four judges: James A. Milke, chair of the Department of Fire Protection Engineering and professor at the University of Maryland; Chris Jelenewicz, senior manager for engineering practice at the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) and technical editor of SFPE’s Fire Protection Engineering magazine; Tahar El-Korchi, professor and department head at Worcester Polytechnic Institute; and Andy King, fire marshal for the City of Franklin, Tenn.
The last firm to win this award was Lacey Fire Protection Engineering, LLC, in Greenbrier, Ark., for a K–12 school district project that used Siemens’ Cerberus PRO intelligent voice communication panel.
For details, and to nominate a project, visit www.usa.siemens.com/eiaward.
About The Author
Matthew Kraus was formerly the director of communications at NECA and senior editor of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR for five years. He can be reached at [email protected].
