The ACI Foundation has announced three appointments to its nine-member board of trustees. Baker Construction veteran Michael Schneider has been elected chair, while Khaled Awad has been reelected trustee. Newly elected American Concrete Institute Vice President Matthew Sherman also joins the board of trustees as part of his ACI officer role. They join current trustees Jeffrey Coleman, Scott Anderson, Frederick Grubbe, Keith Kesner, David Lange and Brett McMahon
Schneider recently retired as senior vice president and chief people officer after 46 years with Ohio-based Baker Construction. Residing in New Mexico, he has formed an eponymous consultancy and continues as a director for two of the three ACI Centers of Excellence: NEU for Carbon Neutral Concrete and PRO for Advancing Productivity. Over an ACI membership term that began in 1981, Schneider has earned the title of Fellow and Roger H. Corbetta Concrete Constructor Award and served as 2016-2017 Institute president. He most recently earned the Knowledge to Practice Award from the ACI Foundation, of which he is past chair.
Awad, FACI, is the chairman and founder of ACTS, a concrete technology, material testing and geotechnical consulting firm with more than 10 operations across the Middle East and Africa. Sherman, FACI, is senior principal with Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, a national consulting engineering firm, and has more than 25 years of experience in heavy construction throughout the United States.
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, a key player in North American construction materials testing and consulting engineering, has opened a Tampa, Fla. office under the leadership of Francesco Spagna, principal. He shifts to the Sunshine State after nearly 30 years in the Boston area headquarters, gaining extensive experience in building enclosure system consulting, design and investigations, building condition assessments, and peer reviews.
Assisting Spagna in the Tampa office build out is Brian Pailes, assistant principal, who will lead the structural mechanics practice. A specialist in cathodic protection, nondestructive testing, concrete deterioration, corrosion, and concrete materials, he has worked on a wide variety of structures worldwide, with an emphasis on bridges and port facilities.
Association of Equipment Manufacturers, Milwaukee-based organizer of the ConExpo-Con/Agg and Utility Expo shows, has teamed with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) on a multi-year initiative to provide mental health education, suicide prevention resources, and training tailored specifically to the needs of the construction industry. AFSP is the largest private funder of suicide prevention research in the U.S. and a leader on related advocacy, education and community engagement efforts.
The construction sector continues to face one of the highest suicide rates of any profession, AEM officials note. Through the AFSP collaboration, their shows will serve as a powerful platform to raise awareness and provide industry professionals with the tools to foster a culture that prioritizes mental health and well-being. AFSP will deliver specialized programming at ConExpo-Con/Agg in Las Vegas and Utility Expo in Louisville, Ky., and provide regular virtual training sessions for construction industry workers.
The AEM-AFSP partnership reflects a growing movement within the construction industry to break down the stigma surrounding mental health and create safer, more supportive workplaces. “Our industry is built by people—and protecting their mental health is just as critical as ensuring their physical safety,” says AEM CEO Megan Tanel. “By partnering with AFSP, ConExpo-Con/Agg and the Utility Expo will amplify essential conversations, deliver accessible training, and help make suicide prevention a standard part of how we do business.”
“This partnership builds on our commitment to the construction industry and our support of mental health in workplaces. By taking actions that help people thrive emotionally, and by providing programs and resources to ensure those struggling get the help they need, we can prevent suicide,” adds AFSP CEO Bob Gebbia.
VDMA, the leading German and European construction materials plant machinery and construction equipment manufacturers association, has named Dr. Johannes Gernandt as chief economist, succeeding Dr. Ralph Wiechers, who retired after nearly 35 years with the organization. Dr. Gernandt will maintain his Tax Department and Competence Centre for Economic Principles leadership roles as well as the VDMA IMPULS Foundation managing director post. Concurrent with his chief economist appointment, Oliver Richtberg has been named VDMA Foreign Trade Department head, a position he has previously held on a deputy basis. He succeeds Ulrich Ackermann, who has retired after nearly 40 years with the group.
“The machinery and equipment manufacturing industry has benefited enormously from the knowledge and commitment of Dr. Ralph Wiechers and Ulrich Ackermann to the sector over all these years,” says VDMA Executive Director Thilo Brodtmann. “Both are outstanding personalities in their fields and have also helped shape the transformation of the association into a modern, interdisciplinary organization.”
In Dr. Gernandt, he adds, VDMA has appointed an economic policy expert who is very familiar with the concerns of the machinery and equipment manufacturing sector, which is dominated by subject matter experts. Dr. Gernandt joined VDMA in 2010 as assistant to the executive director and keeps the group on track in terms of regulatory policy. “VDMA stands for freedom, market economy and competition, summarized in the term regulatory policy,” he affirms. “I am committed to these values out of conviction and look forward to continuing to represent them with more responsibility.”