Submissions are Open: the 2024 Engineering Drone Video of the Year 

If you or someone you know uses drones to create videos that benefit, enhance, and explain projects, then you’re eligible to enter Civil+Structural Engineer Media & Zweig Group’s Engineering Drone Video of the Year (EDVY) competition. It’s as simple as that. The EDVY competition features the best drone footage, video editing, and post-processing data visualizations from the AEC industry. The competition was first launched in 2017 and has quickly grown into an exciting event that the AEC community looks forward to each year. 

EDVY Nuts and Bolts

For companies or individuals interested in submitting a project, submissions must: 

• be original videos, composed of video footage and post-processing/data visualizations gathered during drone/UAV flight;
• feature one or more engineering/construction projects;
• be between two and five minutes in length; and 
• include relevant project information such as name and location.

The contest opens on March 11 and ends on April 26, 2024. The cost to enter the 2024 EDVY competition is $100.

Submissions will be hosted on the CSEngineerMag.com from May 1-May 13. During this time, website visitors will vote on the video they most like. The top 10 videos with the highest number of votes will then be shared with a panel of industry professionals. This group will then ultimately select the video that best represents the expanding use of drone/UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) technology in the AEC industry.

This panel of judges is asked to evaluate each video based on: 1) the video’s capacity to contextualize the project; 2) subject and purpose; 3) how it demonstrates an innovative use of drones; 4) how it demonstrates the flight capacity of drones; and 5) how it demonstrates the visual capacity of drones/UAVs. 

The top video selected will be crowned the 2024 Engineering Drone Video of the Year. Official winners will be announced on June 10 and will be featured on the cover of Civil+Structural Engineer Magazine’s Q2 issue and receive a special package from sponsors. 

Shining Examples: 2022 and 2023

As the EDVY competition has evolved, so have its submissions. Over the past few years, more and more AEC businesses have come up with creative ways to use drone technology. It’s mostly because new tools and technologies continue to develop. For example, first-place winners from the past two years showcased impressive uses of how drones can help to explain projects better and offer deeper insight. 

In 2023, Moore Engineering claimed the top spot. The company had two videos that made the final round and in the end, the winner was its “Maple & Upper Maple River Dams.” The drone footage clearly demonstrated the project’s footprint in terms of size and impact. You can read the full story about this project here: https://csengineermag.com/flood-protection-in-the-great-plains-moore-engineering-wins-the-2023-engineering-drone-video-of-the-year-competition/

In 2022, Casale’s “Nitric Acid Plant” emerged as the clear winner. Casale, a Swiss chemical engineering company, submitted a video that showed a completed nitric acid plant located in Köping, Sweden. The winning video took about a week to capture enough footage for their submission. While Casale regularly uses drones to produce project scans on projects under construction, the challenge here was to ensure a safe flight over an active production facility. The result of their planning and safety precautions was a stunning example of how drones provide a unique perspective on the view of projects. The video combined vertical and horizontal shots, which allowed the audience to gain an intimate look into the project’s inner workings – leading to a deeper understanding of the industry – one that’s important to both the economy and the built environment. 

For more information about this project’s specifics: https://csengineermag.com/midnight-in-sweden-casale-wins-the-2022-engineering-drone-video-of-the-year-competition/

Why Enter the 2024 EDVY Competition? 

First, let’s review why drones are so useful to the AEC industry: 

• They are great tools for saving time compared to traditional video and photography. 
• Drone footage can be used in marketing to create powerful messages about everything from goals to successes. 
• They combine the technical side of projects with the ability to tell a story that captures importance and scale. A great example of precision and storytelling can be seen in the EDVY 2021 winner here: https://csengineermag.com/precision-and-storytelling-reid-hus-after-the-mudslide-wins-2021-engineering-drone-video-of-the-year/

When you share your drone stories with others, you’re not just tooting your own horn–you’re sharing knowledge and giving ideas to others to help elevate the industry as a whole. So, are you ready to show us what you’ve got? Enter the 2024 EDVY competition here: https://csengineermag.com/contests/engineering-drone-video-contest-of-the-year/