Industry organisation Consulting Engineers South Africa (Cesa) has announced that the forty-ninth Cesa Aon Engineering Excellence Awards, which celebrate innovation, quality, outstanding workmanship and professionalism, will be held virtually on November 10.

The awards provide a platform to showcase the important role that infrastructure plays in the sustainable development and delivery of basic services to society.

“These awards celebrate the engineering excellence that our industry brings to our society, serving to protect lives through quality infrastructure and contributing to preserving the livelihoods of many of the people in the built environment value chain and related industries,” says Cesa CEO Chris Campbell.

Cesa will host the yearly event with the support of risk and insurance professional services firm Aon South Africa, which is a strategic partner to Cesa and has been a platinum title sponsor of the event for the past 22 years.

The project award categories this year include projects less than R50-million, projects valued at R50-million to R250-million, projects valued at R250-million to R1-billion, megaprojects greater than R1-billion and best international project.

The engineering technology and innovation award consists of one subcategory – the heating, ventilation and air conditioning in building design award.

Further, the business and development awards categories include the business excellence award, the small or medium-sized company of the year award and the mentoring company of the year award.

The individual awards consist of the young engineer of the year award, mentor of the year award and the lifetime industry achievement award.

Additionally, the visionary client award is sponsored by development finance institution the Development Bank of Southern Africa.

“Through these awards, Cesa celebrates consulting engineers and their clients as the drivers of economic growth through the design and development of value-for-money infrastructure aimed at improving service delivery and, in turn, contributing to the upliftment of communities and the alleviation of poverty and unemployment in line with the aims of our government’s National Development Plan in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” Campbell says.

“As a longstanding sponsor of the Cesa awards, Aon has a deep appreciation of the contribution of the engineering industry to our economy and society,” says Aon South Africa CEO Terence Williams.

“The fundamental shifts we have seen in the world over the past months have brought about opportunities to do things differently. We need to commit to accelerating innovation and making better decisions that lay the foundations for a more optimistic future for our clients, our communities and our businesses,” he notes.

“Global crises can create opportunities for organisations to solve their systemic challenges and become more resilient. Instead of accepting a new normal, there is opportunity to build a 'new better'.

"The Cesa Aon Engineering Excellence Awards are a fitting tribute to consulting engineers who are doing exactly this: building a new better by embracing the risk for the opportunity that it presents, and doing things differently,” Williams adds.