America’s Engineering Industry Helped Build Chicago. Now It’s Coming Back

On October 13th, the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) – the voice of America’s engineering industry – will hold its annual conference in one of America’s greatest cities; Chicago, Illinois.

“America’s engineers shape our world and our industry provides significant value to society,” ACEC President and CEO Linda Darr. “From the buildings we live and work in, to the roads and bridges we rely on and the water and power systems that sustain us, engineers make our world work. We are proud to call Chicago home for our conference, which will attract engineers from across the country for the industry’s premiere event.”

ACEC’s Fall Conference, which will be held between October 13^th and the 16^th at the Sheraton Grand Hotel, will bring together industry leaders from every facet of the engineering industry to learn from their peers, experience new technologies and hear from featured speakers including Robert Costa, the National Political Reporter for the Washington Post, and robotics and healthcare innovator Keller Rinaudo, CEO of Zipline.

“Chicago is one of America’s crowning jewels and our member companies have contributed to make the city a fantastic place to live and work through their design work on some of the most notable landmarks across the city,” Darr added.

The many contributions of ACEC’s member firms to the city of Chicago are reflected in award-winning projects including the Chicago Riverwalk, designed by Benesch, Maggie Daley Park, by Stantec & Infrastructure Engineering, and the 150 North Riverside building designed by Magnusson Klemencic Associates. Each of these landmark projects were honored by ACEC through its annual Engineering Excellence Awards competition.

The architecture/engineering industry also plays an important role in the state’s economy:

• In 2018, Illinois’ private, non-residential construction put in place totaled $8.73 billion; state-and-local construction put in place totaled $8.95 billion.
• In 2018, there were 41,830 employees in architecture, engineering and related occupations in the state.
• The average salary for employees in the Architecture/Engineering industry in Illinois was $85,331, which is 59% higher than the average salary of all employees in the state.

Download the full state sheet

The three-day conference is open to the media.  Contact Jeff Urbanchuk at jurbanchuk@acec.org for more information on how to attend.

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is the business association of the nation’s engineering industry. ACEC member firms drive the design of America’s infrastructure and built environment. Founded in 1906, ACEC is a national federation of 52 state and regional organizations representing more than 5,600 engineering firms and 600,000+ engineers, surveyors, architects, and other specialists nationwide