The winning projects at the 13th edition of the Grands Prix du génie-conseil québécois were unveiled May 12 during an evening event at the Grande Bibliothèque in Montréal, attended by 300 public- and private-sector prime contractors, engineering consulting professionals, partners and engineering students. 

Under the theme Changer le monde (changing the world), the evening, organized by the Association des ingénieurs-conseils du Québec (AICQ, Québec's association for engineering consultants), underscored the engineering work behind some of Québec's best projects. Young engineer Olivier Melhem, PEng, of Bouthillette Parizeau took the Relève du génie-conseil award for his role in designing very large-scale medical gas and pneumatic transportation networks for the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Glen site, an SNC-Lavalin project (website in French only). The $1.343-billion project is the result of innovative techniques and design systems that are unique in the country, and is one of the first major projects to use BIM integrated design with Revit software.

From left to right: Pierre Dumouchel, CEO of École de technologie supérieure; Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire, Principal and Chair of Polytechnique Montréal's Board of Directors; Olivier Melhem, engineer with Bouthillette Parizeau, accompanied by his mentor Bernard Charest, Bouthillette Parizeau; Patrick Lavoie, Mechanics Director, Mechanics/Electricity, Infrastructure Engineering Division – Eastern Canada with SNC-Lavalin.

Mr. Melhem carried off major challenges in helping design two major sub-systems as part of constructing the MUHC's Glen site, those being the very large-scale medical gas and pneumatic transportation networks. The MUHC's new hospital complex brings together four major hospitals and a research centre (250,550 m²), positioning itself as one of the largest university health centres in North America. Its construction budget is $1.343 billion. The Glen site is the result of innovative techniques and design systems that are unique in the country. It is one of the first major projects to use BIM integrated design with Revit software, and Mr. Melhem was one of the tool's managers.

The prizes were awarded in 10 categories to engineering consulting firms and prime contractors. The winning projects were selected by an independent jury made up of experts recognized in their fields and headed by La Presse columnist Alain Dubuc. The evaluation criteria included the consulting engineer's work method, human resources management, the project's features, the impact on the profession, and the incorporation of sustainable development principles. For all the competition details and nominated projects, visit www.aicq.qc.ca/grands-prix (in French only).

Congratulations to all the winners!

See also: 

Video of the Relève du génie-conseil award presentation