Nomination Deadline: March 20

The ASCE Charles Pankow Award for Innovation was established by the Civil Engineering Research Foundation (CERF) in 1996. Named for industry visionary Charles J. Pankow, the award recognizes the contributions of organizations working collaboratively to advance the design and construction industry by introducing innovation into practice. It was instituted as a Society award on December 17, 2008.

Recent winners

  • 2025: Bridge Inspection Robot Deployment Systems (BIRDS)

View all winners

Rules

  1. 1 award may be presented annually to recognize an outstanding, collaborative emerging innovation in design, materials, or construction-related research and development. Innovations must be new to the industry. Not more than 1 award may be given in any 1 year.
  2. Nominations must meet the following criteria:
    1. Innovative Technologies - must demonstrate innovative design, materials, or construction-related research transferred into practice.
    2. Collaborative Research and Implementation - must demonstrate that collaboration was involved during any part of the cycle from development to application.
    3. Impact on Construction Industry Performance - must demonstrate innovative approaches that have a positive impact on society.
  3. The award is not restricted to members of the Society. Current ASCE staff are not eligible for nomination. No innovation may receive the award more than once.
  4. The Award Selection Committee shall be composed of 5 core members, including representatives from the 2 previous award winning innovations, 1 representative appointed by the Charles Pankow Foundation, and 2 representatives appointed by the ASCE Industry Leaders Council. The Award Selection Committee shall also include 4 members recommended and elected by core members. All Award Selection Committee members shall serve staggered 2 year terms. No Award Selection Committee member shall serve more than 2 full terms. The Award Selection Committee shall be chaired by the Charles Pankow Foundation representative. The Editor-in-Chief of Civil Engineering magazine shall serve as the non-voting Secretary.
  5. The Award Selection Committee shall be composed of 5 core members, including representatives from the 2 previous award winning innovations, 1 representative appointed by the Charles Pankow Foundation, and 2 representatives appointed by the ASCE Industry Leaders Council. The Award Selection Committee shall also include 4 members recommended and elected by core members. All Award Selection Committee members shall serve staggered 2 year terms. No Award Selection Committee member shall serve more than 2 full terms. The Award Selection Committee shall be chaired by the Charles Pankow Foundation representative. The Editor-in-Chief of Civil Engineering magazine shall serve as the non-voting Secretary.
  6. The Award Selection Committee shall submit its recommendation to the Executive Committee of the ASCE Board of Direction for approval.
  7. The submission deadline is March 20. The Award Selection Committee may also recommend for consideration those innovations it determines most closely represent the philosophy of Charles Pankow.
  8. Nominees not selected in a given year will be held over for consideration through the next cycle. At the end of the second cycle, nominees not selected will no longer be eligible for consideration, except in the instance where nominations are resubmitted, to be considered for another 2 cycle period.
  9. The award shall consist of a crystal trophy.

Nominations

To nominate, submit the following:

You can submit your nomination electronically to Awards & Honors, or by mail to:

ASCE Honors and Awards
1801 Alexander Bell Drive
Reston, VA 20191

Download Charles Pankow nomination form (PDF)