Managing projects and programs often means dealing with ever-increasing complexity and volatility. Project and program managers together with their teams are required to give their best to achieve the desired outcomes for stakeholders, organizations and/or society. These achievements were the main drivers to initiate the IPMA Project Excellence Awards, later followed by the Otto Zieglmeier Award and the Achievement Awards.

In November 2016, IPMA celebrated the 15^th anniversary of the Project Excellence (PE) awards at the 19^th IPMA Poland Conference in Warsaw. More than 300 people were present at the Gala ceremony where project management teams  that have achieved top performances were internationally recognized as best examples of project excellence.

This year the PE competition was driven only by mega-sized projects with budgets of over 1 billion Euro, realized in different locations, with high complexity and a significant impact on their societies,  projects that achieved excellence in various ways.

• Gold: Medupi Project in South Africa, GE Steam Power Systems – built the biggest dry-cooled power station in the world and the fourth largest coal plant in the southern hemisphere.
• Silver: Vindhyachal Super Thermal Power Station, NTPC Ltd. – built 500 MW coal based thermal power plant in India.
• Bronze: SSR International Airport Expansion Project, China State Construction Engineering Corp. – expansion of the Mauritius airport – new terminal building, parking area, cooling station, emergency power station and subsidiary facilities.

The Otto Zieglmeier Award was presented to Grzegorz Szalajko recognizing his outstanding work on the PE Awards development and the new Project Excellence Baseline.

The Achievement Awards acknowledged the follow project managers and projects:

• „Project Manager of the Year”: Laszlo Balaton, Hungary (Gold), Jon Riddett, Australia (Silver), Gart Kostermans, Netherlands (Bronze)
• “Community Service and Development Projects”: Formalizing and Strengthening Women Enterprises through a Business Clinic in Nepal (Gold), CFE Mexico with the Orquesta Sinfonica Espereanza Azteca project (Silver), Project Management online learning portal in the Arabian Gulf (Bronze)

• “Internationally Funded Humanitarian Aid Projects”: Ebola Response in West Africa by Aspen Medical, Australia, (Gold)Before the IPMA Poland conference started, the “Award Winners Club” took place. All finalists had the opportunity to present their projects and to share which challenges they faced and how they found solutions. Several workshops took place and gave participants the opportunity to exchange approaches and experiences, to discuss ideas and collect suggestions. Discussions took place between project managers who built huge power plants, others that saved lives from Ebola in Africa or created and conducted a new orchestra with 110 children – a very exceptional experience.
• All this has been achieved with the outstanding contribution of dedicated IPMA volunteers from different countries, working as Award Assessors, members of the Juries, Trainers and Promoters of project excellence. We are all mesmerized by project management and excellence and this is what moves the IPMA Awards forward.