The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) bestowed honors to many members who have made significant contributions to the precast concrete industry at its 2021 PCI Committee Days conference in Rosemont, Illinois, September 22-25. Many PCI members and committees met in person while others attended virtually online because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Awards were presented to many deserving individuals at the PCI Membership Awards Luncheon on September 22. “The awards presented each year at PCI Committee Days exemplify PCI’s foundation as a technical institute, honoring engineering excellence in practice and in PCI Journal articles, and displaying the commitment to our quality programs,” said PCI President and CEO Bob Risser, P.E. “The awards also look to the future of PCI and the industry by acknowledging emerging engineering leaders and recognizing PCI’s commitment to the next generation of designers and educators.  

Visit here to see videos of the winners on PCI’s YouTube channel. 

  • Educator of the Year award was presented to David Garber, associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University (FIU), as well as director of workforce development for the university’s Accelerated Bridge Construction University Transporation Center. He is a member of the PCI Student Education Committee and has conducted several large-scale experimental and analytical precast concrete and accelerated bridge construction research projects.  
  • Educator of the Year was also presented to Matthew Shea, clinical teaching assistant professor of architecture in the area of architectural design at the the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado, Denver. His scholarship focuses on architectural design pedagogy and the material culture of architectural production, including the interrelationship between culture and the artifacts and systems of architectural production.
  • Dusty Andrews, PE, received the Irwin J. Speyer Young Professional Award, recognizing a PCI member who serves on at least one PCI committee and is a registered professional engineer or structural engineer for less than 15 years. Andrews, engineering director with Knife River Presstress in Harrisburg, Ore., was honored for his extensive work and commitment to PCI and the precast concrete industry. 
  • Ned Cleland, PhD, PE, received the Norman L. Scott Professional Engineer Award, recognizing an engineer who exhibits the personal and professional character that precast concrete icon Norman Scott exemplified. Cleland is founder and president of Blue Ridge Design Inc., a specialty structural engineering firm in Winchester, Va. He has served on many PCI committees and councils and has designed or directed the design of more than 350 parking structures. He was named a PCI Fellow in 2001 and was a PCI Medal of Honor recipient in 2019.
  • Carl L. Harris is the recipient of the T. Henry Clark Award, recognizing a person, group, or firm that has delivered a resource that improves or enhances the quality of preast concrete products or processes. Harris is cofounder and president of Carl Harris Co. Inc. a PCI-certified contracting firm based in Wichita, Kan., and engaged in erecting precast concrete and structural steel. Harris has been involved in PCI since 1999 and has played a crucial role in developing PCI quality assurance and certification programs. 
  • Members of the PCI Girder Stability Subcommittee, who authored the User Manual for Calculating the Lateral Stability of Precast, Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders (CB-04-20), received the 2021 Leslie D. Martin Certificate of Merit Award, recognizing a PCI-published document judged to be technically outstanding and worthy of special commendation. Members were Richard Brice (chair), J.P. Binard, Reid Castrodale, Dave Chapman Jr., David Deitz, Roy J. Eriksson, Antonio M. Garcia, Keith Kaufman (deceased), Brent Koch, Todd Lang, Z. John Ma, Austin Daniel Maue, Richard Miller, Glenn Myers, Gregg Reese, and Steven L. Schwarz.
  • The Martin P. Korn Award honors the best design or research paper appearing related to buildings and other structures in PCI Journal during a single year. This year’s award is presented to Theresa C. Aragon, Yahya C. Kurama, and Donld F. Meinheit for their paper, “Behavior of Ductile Short-Grouted Seismic Reinforcing Bar-to-Foundation Connections Under Adverse Construction Conditions,” published in the July-August 2020 PCI Journal.
  • The George D. Nasser Award is presented to a young author or authors for the best design, research, or state-of-the-art paper on precast concrete appearing in the PCI Journal in a single year. This year’s winners are Chungwook Sim, Maher Tadros, David Gee, and Michael Asaad for their paper, “Flexural Design of Precast, Prestressed Ultra-High-Performance Concrete Members,” published in November-December 2020. 
  • The Charles C. Zollman Award honor an author or authors for the best design, research, or state-of-the-art paper on precast concrete related to transportation infrastructure appearing in PCI Journal during a single year. This year’s award is presented to Otgonchimeg Davaadorj, Paolo L. Calvi, and John F. Stanton for their paper, “Shear Stress Transfer Across Concrete-to-Concrete Surfaces: Experimental Evidence and Available Strength Models,” published in July-August 2020.

Read the entire press release here.