ORGANIZATIONS – MAY 2020

The American Concrete Pipe Association has named Michael Kremer, MBA, as vice president of Marketing, a newly created position to advance the association’s efforts to meet the critical need for resilient and sustainable infrastructure. He will lead the development and implementation of marketing strategy, messaging and materials that support ACPA’s mission and industry objectives.



Michael Kremer

“We expanded the leadership team to bring strength to the association, communications to our industry and supporting end-markets, and overall outreach to our growing membership,” says ACPA President Doug Dayton, P.E. “Michael’s background in the building and construction industry and his experience with messaging, industry awareness and member interaction will help us further our current strategic initiatives.”

Kremer graduated from Iowa State University with undergraduate degrees in Marketing and Management Information Systems before working at Caterpillar Inc. as a field marketing manager. After receiving an MBA from DePaul University in Marketing Strategy and Economics, Kremer served as global marketing manager for the Intertek Building & Construction Division.

Experience in North American building and construction gives him extensive insight into the reinforced concrete pipe and box culvert industry and markets it serves, especially transportation and infrastructure, ACPA affirms.

Jeff

Jeffrey Coleman
Charles

Charles Nmai
Cary

Cary Kopczynski

The American Concrete Institute has elected 40-year member Jeffrey Coleman, principal of an eponymous Minneapolis law firm, as 2020-21 president. An Institute Fellow, he has served on the ACI Board of Direction and as a member of Committee 301, Specifications for Structural Concrete, plus Construction Liaison, TAC Specifications, Financial Advisory and Conventions Committees, and chaired Responsibility in Concrete Construction, now Committee 132. Prior to obtaining a law degree, he practiced as a structural engineer with Ellerbe Associates, a predecessor to a practice now under AECOM. Through his current firm, founded in 2013 after a few partnerships, he represents engineers, architects, concrete contractors and suppliers, plus building owners in all aspects of construction.

ACI has also elected to two-year terms: Vice President Charles Nmai, FACI, head of Engineering Services in the Admixture Systems business of Master Builders Solutions USA, and Senior Vice President Cary Kopczynski, senior principal of Cary Kopczynski & Co., a structural engineer with San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago offices.

Elected to three-year terms as directors are Scott Anderson, FACI, vice president and general manager of Houston-based Keystone Structural Concrete; G. Terry Harris Sr., FACI, director of Technical Services – Concrete and Verifi, GCP Applied Technologies in Cambridge, Mass.; and, Jason Weiss, FACI, Miles Lowell and Margaret Watt Edwards Distinguished Chair in Engineering at Oregon State University, Corvallis.

Separately, ACI has recently published three statements supporting policy positions, along with state, federal, and international programs, rules or regulations:

  • Professional Societies. Encourage and place preference on programs and services developed by professional societies and encourage the use of ACI programs and services where related to the advancement of concrete technology.
  • New Standards. Encourage those related to concrete technology be developed through ACI, or otherwise involve ACI in the development process.
  • ACI Chapters. Encourage chapter dissemination of concrete technology plus acceptance or adoption of ACI codes and related materials.

The statements are used to align ACI efforts with other industry organizations to more effectively influence programs, policies, rules, and regulations related to concrete and concrete technology.

Antonio

Antonio Nanni
Joe

Joseph Bracci

The ACI Foundation has announced the re-election of two Board of Trustees members, Joseph Bracci and Antonio Nanni. They join Chair Michael Schneider and four fellow trustees. A Texas A&M University research engineer and professor and ACI Fellow, Bracci has dealt with the behavior, adequacy, preservation, and sustainability of building and bridge infrastructure that are exposed to a variety of slow-forming degrading material mechanisms and also to rapid-forming hazardous environmental loading. Nanni, editor of the American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, has engaged in research on construction materials and their structural performance and field application, including monitoring and renewal, with a focus on building and civil infrastructure sustainability.

The ACI Foundation is a non-profit organization established by the American Concrete Institute to promote progress, innovation, and collaboration by supporting research and scholarships, while also serving as an independent resource to provide thought leadership and strategic direction for the concrete industry.

John

John Hausfeld

Separately, the ACI Foundation has announced key council appointments. Baker Concrete Construction Vice President and Director John Hausfeld is the new vice chair of the Strategic Development Council. He has 30-plus years of experience in industry leadership roles and is a member of ACI Committees 301, Specifications for Structural Concrete, and E703, Concrete Construction Practices.

Sula

Sulapha Peethamparan

Sulapha Peethamparan, PhD, is the new vice chair of the ACI Foundation Concrete Research Council. Dr. Peethamparan is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Clarkson University, Potsdam, N.Y. His research is primarily focused on understanding the hydration chemistry, microstructural and property development, and their influence on the early age and long-term performance of cementitious materials.

Anton

Anton K. Schindler

Anton K. Schindler, PhD, PE, FACI, is the new vice chair of the Scholarship Council. He is director of the Highway Research Center and Mountain Spirit Professor in the Auburn University Department of Civil Engineering. His concrete research interests include early-age behavior of structures; high-performance mixes; durability; production, testing and properties; and, computer-based modeling of slab or structure behavior.

Phil

Phil Kelliher

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers has appointed Caterpillar Inc. Vice President Phil Kelliher to chair ConExpo-Con/Agg 2023, March 14-18 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Kelliher heads Americas Distribution, Service & Marketing, providing governance and administration of Cat dealers in North America and Latin America, as well as leadership of the Global Service and Global Marketing & Brand functions. As ConExpo-Con/Agg chairman, he will lead a cross-section of equipment leaders to oversee planning of the construction industry’s triannual global gathering.

“Phil is an established leader and supporter of the equipment manufacturing industry,” says Show Director and AEM Vice President Dana Wuesthoff. “His vast international experience and progressively responsible roles at Caterpillar will play a key factor in continuing to push the ROI discussions for exhibitors within the show management committee.”

The Crane Inspection & Certification Bureau has rolled out its initial online training programs in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As social distancing and safety precautions dissuade some companies from sending employees to traditional classrooms, CICB has created dedicated online programs to meet ongoing crane operator and inspector certification needs. They include preparation for the NCCCO Mobile Crane Operator Exams, Mobile Crane and Rigging Inspector, and Overhead Crane/Hoist and Rigging Inspector. Each will be followed by further digital classes as online training demand for the crane and lifting industry increases.

The construction industry in particular is being forced to pivot and adapt to new realities as Covid-19 necessitates new precautions and restrictions, CCIB contends. “Live-streamed, online programs represent a positive response to the pandemic,” says CEO Craig Epperson. “Attendees will receive the highest quality training delivered in a cutting-edge manner.” While the classes themselves represent a new era of digital engagement, he adds, students will be able to participate with a laptop, tablet or similar device.

CICB uses video-conferencing platform Zoom, so participants are also advised to have a webcam—standard on most digital devices—and headphones where possible. For those averse to online training for crane operators, riggers and inspectors, CICB continues to open its doors to traditional classroom programs. Live CICB training adheres to CDC recommendations and guidelines regarding physical distancing and other public health precautions.