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Home > News and Events > News > News Detail
5/1/2019
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My introduction to ACI was at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in the spring semester of 1977. I enrolled in Reinforced Concrete Fundamentals and was required to purchase the 1971 ACI 318 Building Code from the student chapter of ASCE, which made a few dollars on each copy sold. By the time I signed up for Advanced Reinforced Concrete Design in the fall semester, there was a new 1977 edition of the Code, which I was also required to purchase. This was my introduction to the 318 Code cycle, and I can remember feeling a bit frustrated that I had to buy and learn from a new Code. Little did I know that these early introductions to the 318 Code would foreshadow my later work in ACI. At the urging of my UT Austin graduate advisor John Breen, I joined ACI in 1979—I am celebrating 40 years of membership this year. I was fortunate to attend my first ACI convention in the fall of 1980 in San Juan, Puerto Rico—what a great venue. I vividly remember a forum on the behavior of concrete structures subjected to earthquake loads. This session was moderated by Mete Sozen, and I recall thinking: Where else can I go to hear such giants in the industry give presentations on timely concrete topics? Prof. Breen suggested I submit an abstract related to my master’s research for a Research-in-Progress session at the 1981 spring convention in Dallas, TX. I followed through, and my abstract was accepted. This started me on the path of regularly presenting at ACI conventions. Shortly after earning my PhD at UT Austin, I attended the 1985 spring convention in Denver, CO. I visited the meeting of ACI Committee 224, Cracking, and was asked by Grant Halvorsen, then Chair, to join the committee. Shortly thereafter, I became Secretary of the committee and, after that, Chair. This took me on the next phase of my ACI journey—of being actively involved in technical committees. Over my ACI career, I have participated in, among others, ACI Committees 222, Corrosion; 228, Nondestructive Testing; 562, Repair Code; and 318, Structural Concrete Building Code. Like many ACI members who have attended conventions for 15 years or more, one often gets tapped for other positions of responsibility. This happened to me in 1998, when I was asked to join TAC, the Technical Activities Committee—yes, the group that makes every Technical Committee Chair cringe when hearing the name. What I found was an unbelievably hardworking and dedicated group of 12 individuals that, without question, makes the technical documents written by committees better through the consensus review process. Although it was a lot of work, it was one of the best experiences I have had in my ACI journey. Next, my path led me to being appointed to the Board of Direction and to Board committees. I have served on the Publications, Fellows Nomination, and Codes and Standards Advocacy and Outreach Committees. Serving on these committees was very interesting, as the mission of each is less technical yet provides a broader view of the Institute's mission. The biggest challenge of my ACI life came in 2006. I was selected as Chair of Committee 318 for the 2014 Code cycle, which started in the spring of 2008. For the interim 2011 Code, ACI President Richard Stehly asked me to work expeditiously with the committee to write provisions for adhesive anchors into the Code to address concerns by the National Transportation Safety Board resulting from the precast panel failures in the Central Artery Tunnel in Boston, MA. This was accomplished. For the 2014 Code, the committee started with a clean slate in 2008 and completely reorganized the Code to be more user-friendly—the approach was to develop a Code framework that mirrored the design process. With the hard work and dedication of the 318 membership, this herculean feat that took more than 150,000 hours of volunteer time was accomplished in 6-1/2 years. I believe my journey in ACI follows a similar path to so many others. Like many of you, I am proud of the journey I have taken and of my relationship with ACI. I was given the gift of mentoring by Prof. Breen; each of us now has that same responsibility of mentoring young professionals beginning their careers in the concrete industry. It is my distinct honor and privilege to have been entrusted as the 96th President of ACI. Randall W. Poston
My introduction to ACI was at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) in the spring semester of 1977. I enrolled in Reinforced Concrete Fundamentals and was required to purchase the 1971 ACI 318 Building Code from the student chapter of ASCE, which made a few dollars on each copy sold. By the time I signed up for Advanced Reinforced Concrete Design in the fall semester, there was a new 1977 edition of the Code, which I was also required to purchase. This was my introduction to the 318 Code cycle, and I can remember feeling a bit frustrated that I had to buy and learn from a new Code. Little did I know that these early introductions to the 318 Code would foreshadow my later work in ACI.
At the urging of my UT Austin graduate advisor John Breen, I joined ACI in 1979—I am celebrating 40 years of membership this year. I was fortunate to attend my first ACI convention in the fall of 1980 in San Juan, Puerto Rico—what a great venue. I vividly remember a forum on the behavior of concrete structures subjected to earthquake loads. This session was moderated by Mete Sozen, and I recall thinking: Where else can I go to hear such giants in the industry give presentations on timely concrete topics? Prof. Breen suggested I submit an abstract related to my master’s research for a Research-in-Progress session at the 1981 spring convention in Dallas, TX. I followed through, and my abstract was accepted. This started me on the path of regularly presenting at ACI conventions.
Shortly after earning my PhD at UT Austin, I attended the 1985 spring convention in Denver, CO. I visited the meeting of ACI Committee 224, Cracking, and was asked by Grant Halvorsen, then Chair, to join the committee. Shortly thereafter, I became Secretary of the committee and, after that, Chair. This took me on the next phase of my ACI journey—of being actively involved in technical committees. Over my ACI career, I have participated in, among others, ACI Committees 222, Corrosion; 228, Nondestructive Testing; 562, Repair Code; and 318, Structural Concrete Building Code.
Like many ACI members who have attended conventions for 15 years or more, one often gets tapped for other positions of responsibility. This happened to me in 1998, when I was asked to join TAC, the Technical Activities Committee—yes, the group that makes every Technical Committee Chair cringe when hearing the name. What I found was an unbelievably hardworking and dedicated group of 12 individuals that, without question, makes the technical documents written by committees better through the consensus review process. Although it was a lot of work, it was one of the best experiences I have had in my ACI journey.
Next, my path led me to being appointed to the Board of Direction and to Board committees. I have served on the Publications, Fellows Nomination, and Codes and Standards Advocacy and Outreach Committees. Serving on these committees was very interesting, as the mission of each is less technical yet provides a broader view of the Institute's mission.
The biggest challenge of my ACI life came in 2006. I was selected as Chair of Committee 318 for the 2014 Code cycle, which started in the spring of 2008. For the interim 2011 Code, ACI President Richard Stehly asked me to work expeditiously with the committee to write provisions for adhesive anchors into the Code to address concerns by the National Transportation Safety Board resulting from the precast panel failures in the Central Artery Tunnel in Boston, MA. This was accomplished. For the 2014 Code, the committee started with a clean slate in 2008 and completely reorganized the Code to be more user-friendly—the approach was to develop a Code framework that mirrored the design process. With the hard work and dedication of the 318 membership, this herculean feat that took more than 150,000 hours of volunteer time was accomplished in 6-1/2 years.
I believe my journey in ACI follows a similar path to so many others. Like many of you, I am proud of the journey I have taken and of my relationship with ACI. I was given the gift of mentoring by Prof. Breen; each of us now has that same responsibility of mentoring young professionals beginning their careers in the concrete industry.
It is my distinct honor and privilege to have been entrusted as the 96th President of ACI.
Randall W. Poston
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