Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) members gathered for 2024 PCI Committee Days in Nashville, Tenn., September 23-27, to recognize the accomplishments of many deserving members. 

The attendance of 612 marked one of the strongest turnouts in recent years. In addition to holding productive committee meetings, members networked at several social events throughout the week and raised money at a special event for the PCI Foundation.

“Nashville was a great location for this year’s PCI Committee Days meetings and events as PCI continues to celebrate its 70th anniversary,” said Bob Risser, PCI president and CEO. “Congratulations to all the award winners and thank you to all the member volunteers and PCI staff who continue to advance the Body of Knowledge of the precast, prestressed concrete industry. We continue to produce new and important publications, expand our education offerings, and provide other programs valuable to PCI members.”

Many precast concrete industry leaders were honored at the PCI Membership Awards Luncheon on September 25.

• The first PCI Marketing Awards were presented this year. Corey Greika, vice president/general manager at Coreslab Structures (INDIANAPOLIS) Inc. in Indianapolis, Ind., received the Marketing Individual Achievement Award. He has been devoted to educating owners, developers, architects, engineers, contractors, and students about the benefits and advantages of using precast concrete components and structures to grow market share. He has contributed significantly to the Institute, and he currently chairs the PCI Marketing Council. Watch the award video.
• AltusGroup, Greenville, S.C., was honored with the Marketing Company Achievement Award. AltusGroup members work together to bring advanced technology to market, and then compete against one another for work. In 2023, it launched CarbonCast, the first North American precast concrete brand available coast to coast for a variety of precast concrete producers. Watch the award video.
• The Irwin J. Speyer Young Professional Engineer Award was presented to Catrina Walter, PE, M ASCE. Walter is a sought-after expert in waterfront and offshore facilities design and construction. She joined WSP, formerly Berger/ABAM, in 2008 and was recently promoted to vice president/PM, ports and marine engineer. Watch the award video.
• Karen Laptas, PE, FPCI, received the Norman L. Scott Professional Engineer Award. She has served on numerous committees since joining PCI in 1989. Laptas currently is a senior structural engineer with Metromont LLC, where she uses her vast and varied experience to develop workable solutions for complex design issues. Watch the award video.
•  The Leslie D. Martin Certificate of Merit Award recognizes a PCI-published document judged to be technically outstanding and worthy of special commendation in advancing precast, prestressed concrete. The award was presented to the PCI Precast Insulated Wall Panels Committee for Specification for the Design of Precast Concrete Insulated Wall Panels (ANSI/PCI 150-24).
• The Martin P. Korn Award recognizes authors of outstanding papers published in the PCI Journal during the previous year. This year’s award is presented to Shane Oh, PhD; Lily Pearson, MSc; Mark Manning, PhD; John Mobile, MSc, SE; Brad Weldon, PhD; and Yahya Kurama, PhD, PE, for their paper, “Experimental Investigation of a Novel Reinforced Concrete Buckling-Restrained Brace,” published in the November-December 2023 issue of PCI Journal.
• The Robert J. Lyman Award honors papers dealing with construction, production, and/or erection of precast concrete. The award is presented to Sandip Chhetri, PhD, and Rachel Chicchi Cross, PhD, SE, PE, for their paper, Experimental Investigation of Multiple-Strand Lifting Loops, which was published in the May-June 2024 issue of PCI Journal.
• The George D. Nasser Award is given to young authors for the best design, research, or state-of-the-art paper on precast concrete in the PCI Journal. The award this year is presented to William Galik; Richard Wiebe, PhD; and John Stanton, PhD, PE, for their paper, “Lateral-Torsional-Roll Response of Long Precast Concrete Girders: Uncracked Buckling Load,” in the May-June 2024 issue of PCI Journal.
• The Charles C. Zollman Award honors authors of the best transportation infrastructure paper in the PCI Journal. This year’s winners are Mostafa Tazarv, PhD, PE; and Kallan Hart for their paper, “Repairable Precast Concrete Bridge Columns for Seismic Events,” in the May-June 2024 issue of PCI Journal.

• North Carolina State University won the 2024 Engineering Student Design (Big Beam) Competition. Students work with a PCI producer member to build a 20-foot-long precast, prestressed beam which is then tested. Team members are Taylor Brodbeck, Allison Ebbert, Mohammad Qambar, and Sam Valmassoi. The faculty advisor is Gregory Lucier, PhD, and the PCI producer member is Tindall Corporation. 

• Lehigh University won both the Big Beam Keith Kaufmann Award for Best Report and the Big Beam Best Video Award. Team members are Ryan Bruce, Ryder Henry, Peter Misiewicz, Taryn Ross, and Kate Springsteen. The faculty advisor is Clay Naito, PhD, PE, FPCI, and the PCI producer member is Northeast Prestressed Products. Watch the winning video.