Merrick Wins Award for Edwards Air Force Base Habitat Survey
WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 24, 2016—Merrick & Company of Greenwood Village, Colo., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 49th annual Engineering Excellence Awards for its role in a habitat survey of Edwards Air Force Base in California.
The U.S. Air Force continually monitors habitat conditions at its expansive Mojave Desert facility to gauge the health of multiple sensitive plant and animal species. The project team applied a variety of advanced surveying and mapping technologies, including hyperspectral imagery and LiDAR remote sensing, to collect, evaluate, and analyze spatial data related to habitat quality. These tools provide a cost-effective complement to conventional and satellite-based data-gathering tools, helping lower costs—a critical consideration given the massive area under study. With this high-accuracy data, the Air Force and other agencies can better gauge the effectiveness of various habitat management strategies.
ACEC recognized 151 projects throughout the nation and the world as preeminent engineering achievements, and all were eligible for top national honors. Judging for this year’s awards—known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”– took place in February, conducted by a panel of more than 30 engineers, architects, government officials, media members, and academia. Award criteria included uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, complexity, and success in achieving goals.
Winners of the top national awards—including 16 Honor Awards, eight Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement—will be revealed at the annual Engineering Excellence Awards Dinner and Gala, a black-tie event to be held Tuesday, April 19, 2016, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is the business association of America’s engineering industry, representing more than 5,000 independent engineering firms and more than 325,000 professionals throughout the United States engaged in the development of America’s transportation, water and energy infrastructure, along with environmental, industrial and other public and private facilities. Founded in 1909 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., ACEC is a national federation of 51 state and regional organizations.
