Official Announcement: John Henry Holland Prize - ARTISTE2025

The Scientific Committee of ARTISTE2025 is pleased to announce the outcome of the evaluation process for the John Henry Holland Prize, established in memory of the pioneering American scientist and father of Genetic Algorithms, John Henry Holland (1929–2015).

Following a rigorous peer-review and ranking procedure conducted by the Prize Jury, the award for Best Paper ARTISTE2025 (AI for Structural Engineering) has been assigned to:

Generative AI for Structural Engineering: A Practical Framework for Implementation and Validation

Daniel Bichara et al.

Overall Evaluation: Excellent

Daniel Bichara’s work stands out for:

  • the strong integration of AI and Machine Learning with advanced structural modeling;
  • a methodologically solid framework, establishing a clear link between theory and engineering applications;
  • the conscious use of Artificial Intelligence not as a “black box”, but as an interpretative and predictive tool;
  • careful attention to generalization, robustness and model validation.

Within the context of AI for Structural Engineering, this contribution represents one of the most mature and convincing works presented at ARTISTE2025, achieving an outstanding balance between innovation and engineering rigor.

Special Mention

The Prize Jury also decided to award a Special Mention to:

“Convex Physics-Informed Kernel for Machine Learning in the Ultimate Capacity Assessment of Beam Sections”
Salvatore Sessa and Luciano Rosati

Overall Evaluation: Very High

Salvatore Sessa’s contribution demonstrates:

  • a clear vision of AI as a support tool for structural design and the analysis of complex systems;
  • excellent command of the engineering context guiding the use of AI techniques;
  • particular attention to applicability and transferability of results;
  • strong conceptual clarity and scientific consistency.

In the field of AI applied to structural engineering, this work is extremely solid and represents a complementary and highly valuable perspective alongside the winning contribution.

The Scientific Committee warmly congratulates the awardee and the authors receiving the Special Mention for the exceptional quality of their research, which fully reflects the scientific legacy of John Henry Holland and the mission of ARTISTE to promote innovation at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Structural Engineering.

The official award ceremony will take place during the next edition of the conference, scheduled for 2027, when the Prize will be formally presented to the winner and the authors receiving the Special Mention.

The Prize Committee:

The members of the John Henry Holland Prize Jury is composed of:
•⁠ ⁠Prof. Giuseppe Carlo Marano (Politecnico di Torino, Italy)
•⁠ ⁠Prof. Domenico Asprone (Universita’ degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy)
•⁠ ⁠Prof. Xinzheng Lu (Tsinghua University, Beijing, China)
•⁠ ⁠Prof. Nikos D. Lagaros (National Technical University of Athens, Greece)
•⁠ ⁠Prof. Barbara Caputo (Politecnico di Torino, Italy)