17 November 2020 – The winners of the annual Association for Project Management (APM) Awards have been announced at a live virtual awards ceremony which took place on Monday 16 November 2020. The APM Awards, sponsored by RPC UK Ltd, recognise the very best within the project profession, from aspiring young project managers to complex and transformational projects and programmes, both in the UK and internationally.
Heathrow Airport won the Overall Project of the Year and Technology Project of the Year at the ceremony for its Airport Resilience project. The Overall Project of the Year award forms the pinnacle of APM’s ceremony and is selected by the Awards Steering Group from the four winners of the Project of the Year categories – Technology, Engineering, Construction and Infrastructure, Social and Transformation.
Heathrow Airport deployed a ‘bespoke set of anti-drone systems’, designed to block unmanned aerial vehicles from entering its airspace following a string of recent attempts. Designed by UK-based firm Operational Solutions, the system detects and tracks drones in surrounding airspace, with the ability to locate the drone pilot and show their location, using technology from multiple manufacturers.
The fast and accurate detention of drones keeps passengers and staff safe, and minimises delays. The system is constantly being augmented as part of the business case to maintain its world leading advantage in Counter-Unmanned Aerial System technology.
Ben Hooper (Project Manager) & Tom Putman (Programme Manager) – Counter Drones Systems at Heathrow said “We are delighted to have won this award, in a year which has seen technology accelerate in times of such change. This project has been a collaborative effort, and I would like to thank all the team at Heathrow involved including OSL our lead technology partner. Many thanks to APM and the judges for this incredible recognition.”
Rolls-Royce plc won the Contribution to the Profession: Company award. As one of the world’s leading industrial technology companies, its civil aerospace business based in Derby develops, manufactures, and maintains gas turbine engines to power wide-body aircraft.
In 2018, with an unprecedented order book, programme management was identified as a core business competency to drive future growth and profitability. Pioneering Programme Management (‘Pioneering PM’) was launched to meet this business need: to engage and continue to professionalise a community of programme managers and putting programme management at Rolls-Royce on the map. Through multiple complementary projects, the company has driven a step-change in performance and revolutionised the function.
Debbie Dore, chief executive of APM, said: “Our awards are all about celebrating the outstanding successes and achievements of the project profession, made all the more significant by the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. I would like to congratulate all of this year’s award winners and finalists, they are a true reflection on the growing talent within the profession.”
To see the awards ceremony in full visit www.apm.org.uk/apm-awards/
About Association for Project Management (APM)
Association for Project Management (APM) is the chartered body for the project profession and is committed to creating and upholding leading standards for the profession through chartership, qualifications, knowledge and insight.
Promoting the power of the profession for good, APM has over 30,000 individual members and more than 500 organizations participating in the Corporate Partnership Programme. As an educational charity, APM advocates for and represents the entire project profession – all sectors, all locations and at every stage of the career path. Please see https://www.apm.org.uk/ for further details.