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Association & Industry News
The Seattle-based Northwest Cement Council (NCC) has named Antara Choudhary a market development manager. She is a graduate of Oregon State University, where she completed her Ph.D. in civil and construction engineering. Dr. Choudhary (seen here) earned a master's degree, also in civil and environmental engineering, from Stanford University and a bachelor of technology degree in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi. Her doctoral studies focused on portland cement where she researched the impacts of heat hydration, drying, shrinkage and flexural strength.
Buildings
Build With Strength, the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the NY Construction Materials Association will hold a webinar titled A New Generation of Tilt-Up Concrete Buildings on Thursday, March 3, from noon to 1 p.m. Eastern time. This session will present the latest advances in tilt-up concrete technology to provide economical, energy efficient and durable building solutions.
The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) has elected Franz-Josef Ulm, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and faculty director of the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub (CSHub), for contributions to nanoscale improvement of concrete and other materials and structures important for sustainable development of infrastructure and energy resources. Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to "engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature" and to "the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education." Dr. Ulm helped establish the MIT CSHub and has served on its four-person Board since its inception. The MIT CSHub is co-funded by the RMC Research & Education Foundation and Portland Cement Association. For more information about the CSHub’s research and activities visit http://cshub.mit.edu/.
SEO
NRMCA has opened its annual member survey to measure regulatory action within the industry. The survey is used to determine regulatory trends on specific issues, issue types and in geographic regions. This year’s survey also includes specific sections related to COVID-19 regulatory enforcement. This information, while strictly confidential, will help NRMCA to better tailor its actions to address and combat any such issues, and to keep a finger on the pulse of when, where, how and why regulatory agencies are targeting and levying enforcement actions against the industry. NRMCA urges you to take the survey at your earliest convenience; submissions will be accepted until 5 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, February 25. For more information, contact Kevin Walgenbach at kwalgenbach@nrmca.org. 
Pavement
Wayne Moening, NW Ohio promotion director for the Ohio Concrete Association (OCA), reports that he has recently made two presentations using the on-demand recorded webinars from Pave Ahead’s Concrete Pavement Webinar Series. The first was Concrete Pavement Innovations to the Maumee Valley Society of Professional Engineers (MVSPE) which was presented by Pave Ahead Executive Vice President Brian Killingsworth, P.E. The second presentation, Addressing Myths About Concrete Pavements, was to the Toledo Chapter of American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE) delivered by NRMCA Senior Director, Local Paving, Luke McHugh.
The Aldi supermarket chain announced last week plans to add 150 new U.S. stores following its 100-store expansion in 2021. The 2022 store expansion will be focused in the Gulf Coast area, with the completion of a 564,000-square-foot distribution center in Loxley, AL, later this year, according to a recent article published by the trade magazine Supermarket News. The distribution center will supply 100 new stores in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle. The German-based company currently operates more than 2,100 stores in the United States.
Business Advancement
Participation in NRMCA’s Performance Benchmarking Survey and Compensation Survey is now open. Distribution of these surveys is limited to participating NRMCA members; the results provide valuable feedback, including detailed and personalized benchmarking data, allowing you to compare your company’s performance against national, regional and, in many cases, state performance data. The information provided by your company is strictly confidential and anonymous outside the third-party CPA firm that processes the responses. No NRMCA staff or member will see your company’s response. You can participate in the Performance Benchmarking Survey and Compensation Survey by visiting NRMCA’s Surveys and Benchmarking webpage. Click on the link to download the reply form and send your submission to the contact listed within the form. In addition, please consider participating in NRMCA's IT Survey, sponsored by the newly-formed Digital Transformation and Process Improvement Task Group. Responses will help instruct the priorities of the IT Task Group. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. Last week, NRMCA’s Financial Performance Improvement Group (FPI) announced the formation of the Digital Transformation and Process Improvement Task Group, a task group within the FPI Group designed to address the ready mixed concrete industry’s information technology challenges, including providing peer support and networking to addressing emerging issues like eTicketing. The task group is co-chaired by Keith Onchuck of Ozinga and Luis Angulo of CalPortland Company. NRMCA encourages IT staff from every member company to participate in two ways: First, fill out the IT Survey on behalf of your company. This survey will give NRMCA insight into the IT practices, capabilities and challenges of the ready mixed concrete industry. We will share the survey and use it to instruct the Task Group’s activities. Click here to participate. Second, make plans to attend the task group’s meeting at NRMCA’s Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX, at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15. For more information, contact Andrew Tyrrell at atyrrell@nrmca.org. 
Calendar
Please note that e-mail and direct links to each event listed below can be accessed from NRMCA's Web site. February 22, Onsite and Live Webinar March 1 - 3, Centennial, CO *Sold Out March 1, Mesa, AZ March 15 - 18, San Antonio, TX March 22 - 24, Smyrna, TN March 22 - 25, Boston March 22, Pearl, MS April 4 - 8, 2022 Online Course April 19 - 21, Smyrna, TN April 19 - 21, Online Course September 29 - October 3, Aurora, CO |
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