The Autodesk Excellence Awards at AU 2022
The Autodesk Excellence Awards are a celebration of the incredible work our customers do to transform industries and accelerate innovation. They started as the AEC Excellence Awards in 2011 and have evolved into a program that recognizes groundbreaking projects across all industries within Autodesk.
The awards ceremony took place at AU 2022 in New Orleans, where each winner received a generatively designed, 3D printed metal trophy that represents exactly the kind of innovation that we’re celebrating.
From grand buildings to connected communities, from projects that can help us make air transportation more sustainable to solar power kits that provide clean energy to the most remote communities, these are projects that are creating amazing experiences, changing lives, and transforming our world for the better. Put your hands together for the winners of the 2022 Autodesk Excellence Awards.
Excellence Awards in Media & Entertainment
This year’s Accelerating Transformation Award goes to Warner Bros. Games Avalanche for their cutting-edge workflows on Hogwarts Legacy, set to be released early next year.
The Innovator of the Year Award goes to 3D artist Maxime Jeanmougin for his outstanding work leveraging Bifrost in his workflows and taking his craft to a new level.
The Making a Better World Award goes to 3D artist Jesse Pitela for his dedication to demystifying visual effects workflows.
A special award for Community Leaders of the Year goes to Andy Milkis and Randy McEntee for creating Logik.tv, an online collective where Flame artists can learn and connect with other like-minded creatives.
Excellence Awards in Product Design & Manufacturing
This year’s Accelerating Transformation Award goes to Starline Windows, an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of architectural aluminum window systems. Their ongoing digital transformation has been accelerating the design-to-delivery process by connecting data from Fusion, Vault, Inventor, Revit, and the Autodesk Construction Cloud.
The Innovator of the Year Award goes to PIX Moving. With Autodesk Fusion 360, Pix Moving is using generative design to reimagine the future of urban transport with an autonomous smart vehicle that can be mass customized quickly and sustainably.
The Making a Better World Award for design and manufacturing goes to Okra Solar for their Mesh Grid technology and solar home kits that are bringing electricity to the world’s most remote communities. Okra Solar’s technology is already providing energy for 7,000 people in Haiti, Cambodia, Nigeria, and the Philippines.
This year’s Engineering the Impossible Award goes to GE Aviation, Hamburg and Dresden Universities of Technology, and Autodesk Research for manufacturing a more efficient turbine center frame, a key component in jet engines. The team used generative design not only for light-weighting but also manufacturability and optimization of fluid flow. Using additive manufacturing, they printed a large-scale metal turbine frame that is 34% lighter with components consolidated from 100 parts down to 1 part.
- Related learning—Watch their AU 2022 class: Taking Generative Design to the Next Level on a Large Jet Engine Component.
Excellence Awards in Architecture, Engineering & Construction
The winner of the Accelerating Transformation Award goes to Windover Construction for using state-of-the-art technology to remodel the historic Cabot Street YMCA in Beverly, Massachusetts.
- Related learning—Watch their AU 2022 class: Take a Load Off with DPR, Windover & Arcadis.
The award for AEC Innovator of the Year goes to John Sisk and Son for their cloud-based digital project delivery on their latest data center construction in Sweden. Sisk has boosted efficiency by 50% on their job sites and it’s helping them reach their goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2030.
This year’s Making a Better World Award goes to BuildX Studio for their Zima Homes project, a sustainable and affordable housing development in Nairobi, Kenya. Zima Homes will be a 137-unit community built with locally sourced, alternative materials and with 60% embodied carbon efficiency.
- Related learning—Watch their AU 2022 class: Why This Kenya-based Design & Build Firm Moved to Revit.
The winner of this year’s Best Building Design Award is Shui On Joint Venture for their design of the Multi-Welfare Services Complex, a residential care facility in Hong Kong.
The award for Best Infrastructure Project goes to Stantec for the Blue Green Corridors project in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans.
- Related learning—Dan Grandal of Stantec joined this AU 2022 panel to discuss the Blue Green Corridors project: Drivers of Change: A Film Screening and Panel Discussion.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is the largest archaeological museum in the world, and this year’s winner for Best Construction Project. It was a complex design and the first major construction project in Egypt to implement BIM. Using Autodesk Construction Cloud, Besix and Orascom facilitated the collaboration of more than 150 subcontractors.
