2026 Excellence in Environmental Engineering and Science® Awards Competition Winners

The award recipients are listed below.

Click here for detailed information on the project categories and awards.

Superior Achievement

San Pedro Creek Culture Park
Entrant: HDR
Engineer-in-Charge: Chad Zimmerman, P.E.

Design

Grand Prize

Blue River Wastewater Treatment Plant Biosolids Facility Improvements
Entrant: Black & Veatch
Engineer-in-Charge: Suzenne (Suzie) Carpenter, P.E.

Honor

The Big Creek WRF Expansion
Entrant: Fulton County and Archer Western/Brown and Caldwell Joint Venture
Person-in-Charge: Kelly Comstock

Environmental Sustainability

Honor

OC San Headquarters
Entrant: Orange County Sanitation District
Engineer-in-Charge: Mark Harper, P.E.

Research

Grand Prize

Last Piece to the Carbon Puzzle for Pure Water Southern California:  Partial Denitrification-Anammox Membrane Bioreactor Process
Entrant: Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts
Engineer-in-Charge: Bruce Mansell, Ph.D., P.E.

Small Projects

Honor Award

Mighty Argo Cable Car Wastewater Reclamation Facility
Entrant: AquaWorks DBO, LLC - An Apex Company
Engineer-in-Charge: Adam Sommers, P.E.

University Research

Grand Prize

Mechanistic and Collaborative Wastewater-Based Epidemiology
Entrant: Kyle Bibby, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE
Engineer-in-Charge: Kyle Bibby, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE

Honor 

AI-Driven Machine Learning Frameworks for Optimizing Biomimetic Algal Biofuel Production
Entrant: Purdue University
Engineer-in-Charge: Zhi (George) Zhou, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE

Mainstream Deammonification by Ion Exchange and Bioregeneration via Partial Nitration/Anammox
Entrant: University of South Florida, Penn State University, Technion Israel
Engineer-in-Charge: Sarina Ergas, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE