a rendering of a community service hub at Frazier Field

Aditi Shreedhar (MUD ‘24) and Aniket Surve (MUD ‘24), recipients of a 2023 George W. Anderson, Jr. Award for their Project “FOOD for THOUGHT: A Community Service Hub for South Oakland” completed in the fall 2022 urban design studio.

The George W. Anderson, Jr. Award recognizes graduate students who demonstrate through their work an exceptional level of attention to detail or dedication to beneficially impacting the community.

Carnegie Mellon Architecture will announce the call for applications for the next award cycle in the fall of 2024.

Mission

The George W. Anderson, Jr. Award recognizes Carnegie Mellon Architecture graduate students (Master’s and PhD) who demonstrate through their work "an exceptional level of attention to detail or dedication to beneficially impacting the community."

Evaluation Criteria

To be considered for the George W. Anderson, Jr. Award, applicants must submit the following information:

  • 250-word narrative about the project
  • Pecha Kucha presentation that demonstrates an exceptional level of attention to detail or dedication to beneficially impacting the community. Applicants must upload a single PDF document with 20 image slides, 3:4 landscape format (max 20MB). If selected as a finalist, these 20 slides will be used as the slides for the Pecha Kucha presentation event.
    • Pecha Kucha is a presentation style in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each (6 minutes and 40 seconds in total) with the images advancing automatically.

The jury will review the submitted applications and select a shortlist of candidates. These finalists will present their Pecha Kucha presentations to their fellow graduate students and the jury during a live event, the Anderson Award Finalists Pecha Kucha Presentations. Candidates must be present to participate in this presentation. The jury will make the final determination of the award recipient(s) following the presentations.

View the 2022 finalist presentations

Spring 2024 Jury: Joshua Bard (Chair), Nina Baird, Kristen Kurland

Spring 2024 Award Amount: $1,500 to $2,500 (multiple available)

Eligibility & Schedule

This George W. Anderson, Jr. Award is open to all Carnegie Mellon Architecture graduate students (Master’s and PhD).

Carnegie Mellon Architecture will announce the call for applications for the next award cycle in the fall of 2024.

Award Recipients

  • 2023: First Place: Jil Berenblum (MSSD ‘24), Nandan Bhusury (MSSD ‘24) & Rovina George (M.Arch ‘24), Project: MYCOFLAME: In care of forest biomes and wild fire resiliency
    Runner-up: Valeria Duque Villegas (MUD ‘25), Project: Enhancing the Social Impact of Natural Rehabilitation: Harnessing Natural Recomposition as a Catalyst for Social Transformation
    Runner-up: Trevor Orgill (M.Arch ‘24), Project: HomeCraft Workshop: The Expandable House - Studies in Recycling, Repurposing Building Materials In Urban Villages of Chiang Mai
    Runner-up: Koushik Srinath (MUD ‘24), Project: Reclaiming Platform Futures: Towards Alternative Models of Cities and Data
  • 2023: First Place: Suzy Li (PhD-BPD candidate), Project: Adopting Smart Community Surfaces is Critical to Climate Change, Human Health, and Social Equity
    Runner-up: Ariba Asad (MUD ‘23), Project: Choreographing an Informed Return: From Rehabilitation to Recovery
    Runners-up: Rachel Ruscigno (M.Arch ‘24) & Autumn Dsouza (M.Arch ‘24), Project: Regenerative Assemblages: A Soil Remediation Network
    Runners-up: Aditi Shreedhar (MUD ‘24) & Aniket Surve (MUD ‘24), Project: FOOD for THOUGHT: A Community Service Hub for South Oakland 
  • 2022: First Place: Jamie Ho (MSBPD ‘22), Project: Biophilic Design Strategies in Dialysis Clinics to Improve Patient Health Outcomes 
    First Place: Kashmala Imtiaz (M.Arch ‘22), Project: Material Transition and its Socio-Cultural Impact – The Case of Azad Kashmir
    Runner-up: Tabeer Tariq (M.Arch '23), Project: Architecture of Empathy: A Cancer Care Home
    Runner-up: Chengzhi Zhang (MSCD ‘23), Project: Biophilia Informed Internet of Things Design
  • 2021: First Place: Sameedha Mahajan (MUD '21), Project: The Communal Veil: Carving Spaces for Women in the Rohingya Refugee Camps
    First Place: Xiaoran Zhang (MUD '21), Project: Re-cultivation: Gaoli Village Rural Community Commons Design, Nanjing, China + Re-cultivation Thesis Research
    Runner-up: Sharleen Devjani (M.Arch '21), Project: Climate Change Gentrification: Little Haiti, Miami
    Runner-up: Kashmala Imtiaz (M.Arch '22), Project: Sharpsburg Ecotone
    Runner-up: Pedro Veloso (PhD-CD '21)Generative Systems for Design
  • 2020: Abhinavv Singh (MUD ‘20), Project: Architecture of Associations: Persistence of Memory
    Emek Erdolu (PhD-CD ‘23), Project: D+G_D: A CAD Modeling Interface for Urban Design and Evaluation in Singapore
    Amulya Surapaneni (MSSD ‘21), Project: Housing for All
    Srinjoy Hazra (M.Arch ‘20), Project: The Hugli River of Cultures Project
  • 2019: First Place: Shailaja Patel
    Runner-up: Pragya Gupta
  • 2018: First Place: Roshni Krishnan
    Runner-up: Manuel Rodríguez Ladrón de Guevara
    Runner-up: Shalini Priyadarshini
  • 2017: First Place: Paul Moscoso Riofrio
    First Place: Chun Zheng
    Runner-up: Lu Zhu
    Runner-up: Ernest Bellamy
  • 2016: not awarded
  • 2015: First Place: Jeffrey Concepcion
    Runner-up: Bruce Chan
  • 2014: not awarded
  • 2013: not awarded
  • 2012: Maitri Shah
    Eleni Katrini
  • 2011: First Place: Omar Clennon
    Runner-up: Samira Ahmadi
  • 2010: First Place: Deepika Khowal
    Runner-up: Raghav Kaushik
  • 2009: First Place: Erica Cochran
    Runner-up: Rui Zhang
  • 2008: First Place: Michael Dong
    Runner-up: Megan Snyder