The
Chief of Engineers Awards of Excellence Program (AEP)
was created in 1965 to recognize and promote excellence in design achievements by the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its professional partners. Over its 57
year history, the program has presented a total of 577 awards in the
37 times it has been judged.
Two types of awards are given in each of the two primary categories of Design/Military
Design and Environmental/Civil Design.
The Chief of Engineers Award of Excellence
is the highest award. Only one award may be given for an entry in each of the two primary
categories. This award requires the unanimous decision of the jury for an entry that truly
exhibits excellence in all major professional design disciplines. The jury is not obligated
to nominate any entry for this award.
Honor Awards
are also given in both primary categories to entries that demonstrate or stimulate excellence
in each of the design disciplines. The jury determines the number of awards. An honor award is
given to an entry based on a majority decision of the jury with no juror casting a dissenting vote.
Merit Awards
are given for projects that may be related to individual disciplines (e.g., landscape architecture,
interior design, planning, historic preservation, adaptive reuse, sustainable design, discipline
specific engineering, etc). The jury determines the number and types of merit awards. A merit
award is given to an entry based on the recommendation of at least two jurors with no juror
casting a dissenting vote.
USACE Design Team of the Year Award
is awarded to the design team of the in-house designed project that achieves the highest-level
award in the Chief of Engineers Design and Sustainability Awards Program. In the event that more
than one in-house designed project receives the same level award, multiple awards will be given.