Silviu Livescu, SPE, will receive the 2026 Washington Award in recognition of his contributions to next-generation, low-enthalpy geothermal energy systems, which are enabling widespread, cost-effective building heating and cooling solutions with significant environmental impact.
The Washington Award is conferred upon an engineer whose professional attainments have preeminently advanced the welfare of humankind. The award will be presented to Livescu during the 2026 Chicagoland Engineering Awards Benefit on 19 February in Rosemont, Illinois.
Livescu is the cofounder and chief technology officer of Bedrock Energy. He previously served as a tenured professor at The University of Texas at Austin and held positions at Baker Hughes and ExxonMobil.
An SPE member since 2009, he currently serves as editor in chief of SPE Journal. His previous SPE roles include service as SPE International Board Technical Director for Data Science and Engineering Analytics and SPE Distinguished Lecturer.
Livescu has served on more than 30 SPE advisory, awards, and technical conference and workshop committees. He has received the 2015 SPE A Peer Apart Award, 2017 SPE Canadian Regional Production and Operations Award, SPE Calgary Section Technical Excellence and Achievement Award, 2019 SPE Distinguished Member, 2019 SPE International Distinguished Service Award, and is a nine-time recipient of the SPE Outstanding Editor Award for his work with SPE Journal.
Livescu also serves as editor in chief for the journal Geoenergy Science and Engineering. He and has been involved in the peer review of more than 20,000 papers and has authored more than 100 papers and 40 US patents.
He holds BS and MSc degrees from the Politehnica University of Bucharest, a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Delaware, and a postdoctoral in petroleum engineering from Stanford University.
About the Washington Award
The prestigious Washington Award is conferred upon an engineer(s) whose professional attainments have preeminently advanced the welfare of human kind. Established in 1916, it is conferred annually by a consortium of leading engineering societies through the Western Society of Engineers. Past recipients include Herbert Hoover, Orville Wright, Henry Ford, Neil Armstrong, Grace Murray Hopper, Bill Nye, and Dean Kamen, among many other notable figures. Each year, during Engineers Week, presentation of the award is made at a joint banquet of the members and guests of the Western Society of Engineers; the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers; American Society of Civil Engineers; American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers; National Society of Professional Engineers; and the American Nuclear Society.