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In Part 2, we catch up with DBIA’s 2025 Distinguished Leadership Award recipients and the Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award winner

DBIA’s 2025 Design-Build Conference & Expo in Las Vegas celebrated more than award-winning projects and standout teams. It also recognized the leaders whose careers, influence and commitment continue to shape the design-build industry.

Part 2 of our post–Design-Build Conference & Expo podcast coverage focuses on DBIA’s individual honors, featuring interviews with this year’s Distinguished Leadership Award recipients and the 2025 Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award winner. These conversations highlight the achievements being recognized and the leadership behind them.

Featured Projects and Interviews

• Jennifer Macks — Distinguished Leadership Award (Industry Practitioner)
• Britt Sanford — Distinguished Leadership Award (Owner)
• David Shadpour — Distinguished Leadership Award (Young Professional)
• Janice Zahn — Distinguished Leadership Award (Legislator)
• Bill Reifsteck — 2025 Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award

Resources:

• William E. Reifsteck II, FDBIA, CRIS, Awarded the 2025 Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award
• Inside the College of Fellows: Wisdom, Wit and What's Next
• Leadership in Every Corner: DBIA’s 2025 Distinguished Leadership Award Honorees

Access all our free design-build resources and learn more about Design-Build Done Right® at dbia.org.

DBIA members are shaping the future, one successful collaboration at a time.

Have thoughts? Text us!

We’re back from Las Vegas and reliving the 2025 Design-Build Conference & Expo in Part 1 of this two-part recap. This episode focuses on the teams that won big in Vegas: the Project of the Year, the Chair’s Award and the top three finishers in DBIA’s National Design-Build Student Competition.

Host Erin Looney brings you conversations from the competition and the awards show floor (yes, with plenty of background noise), starting with:

Project of the Year

Kansas City International Airport New Single Terminal and Garage
Guests: Mark Goodwin, Clark Construction
Awards: Aviation | Best in Process – Progressive Design-Build | Trailblazer in Inclusive Growth | National Award of Excellence | National Award of Merit | Project of the Year

Chair’s Award

Hurricane Ian Sanibel Island Access
Guests: Toby Mazzoni (Superior Construction), Paul Suellentrop (DeMoya Infrastructure)

2025 National Design-Build Student Competition

1st Place — D&T Construction (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo)
Students: Alyson Buchholz, Sergio Gonzalez, Coulter Langmaid, Casey Lavin, Jacquelyn Lomano (Captain)
Faculty Advisor: Tom Kommer

2nd Place — Cypress (University of Florida)
Students: Elijah John, Aidan Newsom, Asa Richards (Captain), Nicholas Soler, Lucas Wicks
Faculty Advisor: Russell Walters
Special Recognition: Asa Richards – Best Individual Presenter Award

3rd Place — Pioneer Design-Build (Alfred State College)
Students: Jessica Budd, Fernanda Ceja, Selena Fullone, Owen Lantiegne (Captain), Connor Welsh
Faculty Advisor: William Dean

Learn more about the National Design-Build Student Competition

Discover more of the 2025 award-winning design-build projects and teams.

Get ready for future DBIA conferences.

Coming in Part 2:
Interviews with the 2025 Distinguished Leadership Award winners — Janice Zahn, Britt Sanford, David Shadpour, Jennifer Macks — and Brunelleschi Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Bill Reifsteck.

Access all our free design-build resources and learn more about Design-Build Done Right® at dbia.org.

DBIA members are shaping the future, one successful collaboration at a time.

Have thoughts? Text us!

Artificial intelligence is no longer an abstract idea for design-build teams. It’s already changing how projects are delivered, managed and maintained. In this episode of the Design-Build Delivers Podcast, DBIA’s Director of Virtual Design and Construction Brian Skripac is joined by three leaders from ARKANCE — Jason Kunkel, Senior Practice Manager; Nick Miller, Director of BIM Services; and Justin Friedman, Practice Manager | Facilities Management — to explore how data and AI are reshaping the Owner experience.

Together, they unpack how design-build teams are using data to:

• Turn information into intelligence that drives better decisions.
• Build a culture of trust and governance around data ownership.
• Identify “quick wins” to make AI adoption practical and scalable.
• Shift focus from building smarter to owning smarter.

It’s a conversation about the real-world impact of data — how it’s captured, shared and leveraged across every phase of a project’s lifecycle — and what it means for Owners navigating the next era of delivery.

Resources:

• The VDC Project Leader's Role & Responsibilities on Design-Build Projects (Free to download)
• Smarter, Faster, Still Human: How AI Agents are Changing Design-Build (August 2025 Design-Build Delivers Podcast episode)
• From Sci-Fi to Site Plans: How Augmented Reality is Changing Design-Build (May 2024 Design-Build Delivers Podcast episode)
• What Do Design-Build, Robot Jokes and Baseball Have in Common? (May 2024 Design-Build Delivers Podcast Bonus Content Episode)
• Design-Build Delivers Blog posts on AI:
  • Beyond BIM: How AI is Unlocking Intelligent Infrastructure Lifecycle Management
  • AI’s Place in the Industry: How Builders Are Incorporating AI into Design-Build
  • Emerging Technologies: How AI, VR, AR and Cobots Are Transforming Design-Build
  • Dashboards, Data and Discipline: Embedding Analytics in the Design-Build Lifecycle
  • Bridging the Gap: How Technology is Driving Value in Design-Build Projects

Access all our free design-build resources and learn more about Design-Build Done Right® at dbia.org.

DBIA members are shaping the future, one successful collaboration at a time.