The José Entrecanaeles Ibarra Foundation has awared the Civil Engineering Prize to the American Engineer Leslie E. Robertson. The Development Cooperation Prize has been given to the Bomberos Unidos Sin Fronteras Organization for the Proyect “Solidary water. Implementation of a system of potabilization and distribution of water in the Community of Former Tankers (Loreto, Peru)”.
The José Entrecanales Ibarra Prizes awarded by the Fundación José Entrecanales Ibarra are reference awards in the engineering field. Their fundamental objective is to position this field as a discipline that directly influences the development and welfare of societies.
The prizes, which are global in scope, are given in two categories. The 2012 Civil Engineering Prize was given to the American engineer Leslie E. Robertson, who was responsible for designing the structures of hundreds of buildings around the globe such as the Shanghai World Financial Centre, the Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong, the World Trade Centre in New York, the twin Gate of Europe buildings in Madrid, the main offices of United States Steel in Pittsburgh, and various museums in Berlin, Portland (Maine), and the Miho Museum Bridge in Japan, among others.
Mr Robertson has set new standards for the design and construction of high-rise buildings; he is a pioneer in the computer application for these designs. He has planned bridges, domes and long-span roofs, transforming theoretical engineering and enabling architects to design their dreams.
As regards the 2012 Development Cooperation Prize, for which 129 projects from different parts of the world competed, the jury decided to award it to the project entitled “Solidary water. Implementation of a system of potabilization and distribution of water in the Community of Former Tankers (Loreto, Peru)”.
The jury for the 2012 prize was chaired by the Director of the Instituto Cervantes, Víctor García de la Concha, and its members included Juan Antonio Santamera, President of the Fundación José Entrecanales Ibarra and Director of the School of Civil Engineering in Madrid; Carlos Conde, President of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and member of the Board of Trustees of the Fundación; Jörg Schlaich, winner of the first Fundación José Entrecanales Ibarra Civil Engineering Prize; José Antonio Torroja, Doctor in Civil Engineering, Full Professor of the Madrid School of Civil Engineering and winner of the 2006 National Engineering Prize, and Javier Manterola, Doctor in Civil Engineering, Full Professor of the Madrid School of Civil Engineering and winner of the 2001 National Engineering Prize; Juan Entrecanales, Doctor in Industrial Engineering and member of the Board of Trustees of the Fundación; and José Manuel Entrecanales, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Acciona and member of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.
