The Engineering Society of Detroit’s Construction and Design Awards are among the premier recognitions awarded to members of the construction industry and their projects. These awards are unique in that they honor the three primary members of the building team—owners, designers, and constructors—and recognize outstanding achievement and innovative use of technology. The awards were conceived 52 years ago to encourage elevation of the standard of practice in the construction industry.
For eligibility requirements and submission criteria, click here. To download a copy of the brochure and entry form, click here. For more information, contact Leslie Smith, CMP, at lsmith@esd.org or 248-353-0735, ext. 152.
To see the 2025 ESD Construction and Design Award winners and the stories behind their award-winning work, check out the fall issue of TechCentury magazine.
Volunteer Judges Needed
Michigan Regional Future City Competition
Competition Day: Tuesday, January 20, 2026
This fall, middle school students began work on the Future City Competition; a project-based learning program where students work as a team with an educator and volunteer mentor to design a city of the future. This year’s theme is Farm to Table. Teams will design a city that eliminates food waste from farm to table and keeps its citizens healthy and safe.
We are looking for engineers and technical professionals to serve as judges on competition day to evaluate team presentations, models and Q & A. The role of a competition day judge is to draw on their expertise and resources to fairly evaluate the team’s efforts. Training will be at 8:15 a.m. the morning of the competition, Tuesday, January 20. The actual judging is from 9 – 11 a.m.
To Volunteer as a Judge
Visit https://futurecity.org/register/ to sign up as a judge. Please be sure to select the Regional judging category and choose Michigan as your region.
Call for Papers
18th Annual Ground Vehicle Systems Engineering and Technology Symposium (GVSETS)
August 11 – 13, 2026
Vibe Credit Union Showplace (formerly Suburban Collection Showplace), Novi
National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA) Michigan Chapter’s GVSETS provides the opportunity to network and share technical research to more than 2,500 attendees.
NDIA Michigan Chapter is dedicated to enhancing and modernizing warfighter capabilities, while finding solutions for gaps which are becoming more aggressive and complex. The first day of GVSETS brings together technical experts from government, academia, and industry who will present research in specific topic areas where gaps have been identified, then open up the floor for discussion purposes. The focus of this year’s GVSETS technical sessions is presenting technology which supports the U.S. Military’s future ground maneuver concepts, systems, and formations.
In support of the Technical Sessions, all scientists and engineers are invited to submit papers. More information and topics of interest can be found here.
Submission Deadline: March 5, 2026
Paper Presentations: August 11, 2026
Exhibitor and sponsorship information will be available in February 2026.
For more information about GVSETS, contact GVSETSpapers@ndia-mich.org or GVSETS@ndia-mich.org.
Upcoming Deadlines
February 20: Outstanding Young Engineer of the Year Nominations Due
February 20: Outstanding College Student of the Year Applications Due
February 20: Outstanding High School Student of the Year Applications Due
February 27: ESD College of Fellows Nominations Due
February 27: John G. Petty Image Award Nominations Due
February 27: 52nd Annual Construction and Design Awards Submission Deadline
Save-the-Date 2026
January 20: ESD Michigan Regional Future City Competition
February 4: Engineering Futures Series: Talks, Workshops & Tours for Modern Professionals – Tour of Amazon Fulfillment Center, Pontiac, MI
February 19: Bocce with the Board: An Exclusive ESD Networking Event, Palazzo di Bocce, Orion, MI
March 3 & 4: Solid Waste Technical Conference and Training Day
March 12: Spring Engineers Get Hired Job Fair
March 18: Gold Award Reception & Recognition
May 5: Michigan Energy Efficiency Conference and Exhibition
June 1: 15th Annual ESD Golf Outing
June TBD: ESD Annual Dinner
