METRO STATION LIGHTING PROJECT CITED IN NATIONAL ENGINEERING COMPETITION

Innovative Process Saves Installation Time, Accelerates Energy Savings

WASHINGTON, DC – M.C. Dean of Tysons Corner, Va., has earned a National Recognition Award for exemplary engineering achievement in the American Council of Engineering Companies’ (ACEC) 55^th annual Engineering Excellence Awards (EEA) for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority’s Metro Platform LED Lighting Replacement Project.

M.C. Dean provided electrical design to upgrade Metro’s station lighting systems, including trackbed, pylon, and parapet lighting, and upgrade fluorescents to new state-of-the-art energy-efficient LED lighting. The company identified a modular prefabrication approach to overcome schedule, safety, and quality challenges presented by working on active station tracks.

Detailed pre-wired “plug and play” lighting system designs based on station platform configurations maximized repeatability for more efficient procurement, manufacturing, and installation practices. This design was critical to meeting short, 44-hour delivery goals to minimize single tracking on the system. WMATA estimates that the system upgrades will save 17 million kilowatt-hours of energy each year.

M.C. Dean designs electrical, electronic security, telecommunications, life safety, and IT systems.

The project is part of 195 entries this year representing engineering excellence from throughout the nation and the world. Judging for the awards program—known industry-wide as the “Academy Awards of the engineering industry”– took place in February and was conducted by a national 27-member panel of built environment leaders, along with experts from government, the media and academia. Award criteria focused on uniqueness and originality, technical innovation, social and economic value, and generating excitement for the engineering profession.

Recognition of all award winners including top winners—20 Honor Awards, 16 Grand Awards and the prestigious “Grand Conceptor Award” for the year’s most outstanding overall engineering achievement—will take place during the 2022 EEA Gala, to be held in Grand Hyatt, Washington, DC, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022.

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is the business association of America’s engineering industry, representing more than 5,200 independent engineering firms and more than 600,000 professionals throughout the United States engaged in the development of America’s transportation, water and energy infrastructure, along with environmental, industrial and other public and private facilities. Founded in 1906 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., ACEC is a national federation of 52 state and regional organizations.