ACEC/MA names Ochsendorf DeJong and Block as 2016 honoree

Cambridge, MA The American Council of Engineering Companies of Massachusetts (ACEC/MA) has named Ochsendorf DeJong and Block (ODB) Consulting Engineers, Inc. as winner of the Grand Conceptor Award in recognition of the firm’s masonry specialty structural engineering work on the MIT Sean Collier Memorial. The Collier Memorial marks the site where officer Sean Collier was shot and killed on April 18, 2013.

Professor John Ochsendorf, Matthew DeJong and Phillipe Block developed 3D digital modeling software to evaluate the structural behavior of the gravity forces in the five-way shallow unreinforced stone arch of 32 granite blocks that constitute the timeless structure.  The blocks are part of the Memorial’s design concept of “strength through unity.”

ODB completed the project in one year during a record snow-producing New England winter.

Suffolk Construction served as contractor for the project.

“The recipient of the Grand Conceptor Award is recognized as having designed the overall best engineering project of the year,” said ACEC/MA president David Vivilecchia. “Without question, the Sean Collier Memorial stands as testament to the qualities of strength and openness; it is outstanding in its unique and innovative application and for its eternal acknowledgement of the young officer who gave his life in the protection of others.”