Organizations

The Connecticut Ready Mixed Concrete Association and Texas Aggregates & Concrete Association have been named co-recipients of the 2007 NRMCA State Association

The Connecticut Ready Mixed Concrete Association and Texas Aggregates & Concrete Association have been named co-recipients of the 2007 NRMCA State Association of the Year award, recognizing groups’ industry contributions in the areas of research, education, advocacy and promotion. The two winners, selected from a field of nominated associations nationwide, were honored at the 2008 NRMCA Annual Convention in Las Vegas.

TACA’s recent accomplishments include development and execution of a comprehensive product and industry promotion program designed to measurably increase the implementation and use of concrete, cement and aggregate products in Texas. To date, 91,000 yd. of concrete, 19,000 tons of cement, and 137,000 tons of aggregate have been successfully promoted by TACA’s new marketing/technical standards staff. Additionally, TACA has been instrumental in advancing a Concrete Industry Management extension program at Texas State University, scheduled for a fall 2008 start-up.

CRMCA’s accomplishments include planning and construction of an insulating concrete form house as the showcase exhibit at a recent home exposition. The endeavor required coordination and partnership with several state and local-level industry associations, as well as volunteer recruitment from multiple industry sectors. By way of advocacy, CRMCA worked closely over the past year with Connecticut Department of Transportation to revise the state specification for portland cement concrete and related materials, as well as the Concrete for Structures specification. The collaboration resulted in the creation of a new state cement cost adjustment specification and the development and implementation of a pilot research program with ConnDOT for maturity meter testing.

The American Concrete Institute introduced its new president, vice president, and four board members during the ACI Spring 2008 Convention in Los Angeles. New ACI President Luis E. GarcÃa officially assumed his one-year term, becoming the first ACI president from outside the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada. Partner and president of Proyectos y Dise“os Ltda. Û a structural engineering consulting firm that he founded in Bogot∑, Colombia, in 1980 Û GarcÃa has supervised the structural design of numerous buildings, industrial structures, and bridges in Latin America and has engaged in teaching and research at the Universidad de los Andes, Bogot∑, since 1973. As president of the Colombian Association for Earthquake Engineering, he chaired the committee that developed the Colombian seismic code enacted in 1984, as well as the 1998 update; moreover, he has served as president of the Colombian Association for Structural Engineering and represented Colombia’s president on the Colombian Building Code Committee. GarcÃa was named an ACI Fellow in 1991, received the ACI Joe W. Kelly Award in 2000, and the ACI Alfred E. Lindau Award in 2003.

Beginning a two-year term is ACI Vice President Richard Stehly, a principal of Minneapolis, Minn.-based American Engineering Testing, Inc. To his new position, he brings experience spanning more than a quarter century: From Twin City Testing, Minneapolis Û where he was hired as a field engineer, eventually becoming president of the firm Û he joined Anchor Block Co., one of few block makers using the autoclave process, serving as president until he returned to the testing business by cofounding American Engineering Testing in December 1989. An ACI member since 1980, he is the current chair of the Financial Advisory Committee and the Board Advisory Committee on Sustainable Development.

Four new board members began their three-year terms. Claude B»dard, vice president and general manager of the North American Admixtures Division of The Euclid Chemical Co. in St. Hubert, Quebec, Canada, is current chair of the ACI Foundation and the Strategic Development Council, as well as an ACI Fellow. Beverly Garnant, executive director of the American Society of Concrete Contractors in St. Louis, Mo., is a member of the ACI Construction Liaison Committee, the ACI Marketing Committee, and the ACI Task Group to Review Educational Programs, as well as the Executive Committee of the ACI Foundation’s Strategic Development Council. Colin Lobo, senior vice president of the Engineering Division of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association in Silver Spring, Md., is a member of ACI Committee 318, Structural Concrete Building Code; serves as secretary of ACI Committee 301, Specifications for Concrete; and, was named an ACI Fellow in 2003. Andrea Schokker, a Henderson Professor of Civil Engineering and director of the Protective Technology Center at Pennsylvania State University, University Park, is active in many ACI committees and serves as the chair of the Advisory Committee for Young Members and Joint ACI-ASCE Committee 423, Prestressed Concrete.

Rowan-Salisbury, N.C., high school senior J.R. Poole has earned the inaugural scholarship awarded by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers in the name of the Construction Equipment Hall of Fame. The $5,000 scholarship was awarded to Poole, who is planning to become a mechanical engineer, on the basis of an essay he wrote as part of AEM’s Construction Challenge competition staged at the ConExpo-Con/Agg exposition in Las Vegas. Scholarship and Challenge contenders submitted a 750-word essay on their reasons for choosing a construction industry career; five finalists were selected following a two-week period prior to the mid-March show during which 17,000-plus online votes were cast by the public, invited to vote on the winning essay at vote.conexpoconagg.com.

AEM developed the hands-on Construction Challenge competition in partnership with Destination ImagiNation Inc. to emphasize creativity and problem solving in spotlighting construction industry careers. More than 50 regional winning teams of high school students nationwide participated in the finals held at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2008.