JEDDAH– ENGR. Khaled Awad, Chairman and Founder for the Lebanon-based Advanced Construction Technology Services (ACTS), has recently been elected to serve as Vice President for the American Concrete Institute (ACI), the world authority and resource on concrete technology. Awad, who will serve a two-year term, is the first member from the Middle East to assume the key post. Founded in 1904 and headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan, ACI is a member-based technical organization with around 20,000 members worldwide.
ACI produces the main building codes that are universally adopted in engineering design and concrete construction. ACTS, a leading consulting organisation in the field of construction materials and geotechnical engineering, is the local sponsoring group of ACI for its certification programs in the Middle East. ACTS has been offering these courses since 1996, and has trained more than 5,000 personnel all over the MENA region and certified more than 2,000 in the various ACI certification programs.
ACI made the announcement during the recently-held Concrete Convention and Exposition in Kansas City, Missouri. Along with Awad, introduced were Sharon L. Wood, who was elected to serve as president for 2015-2016, and Michael J. Schneider, who was proclaimed Senior Vice President for a two-year term. Additionally, four members have been elected to serve on the ACI Board of Direction, each for three-year terms: JoAnn P. Browning, Cesar A. Constantino, Kimberly Kayler, and Roberto Stark. “I am honored and humbled to be elected to the post. We at ACTS believe in investing in the future that is why we have always valued our relationship with the American Concrete Institute being their local sponsoring group in the Middle East since 1996. ACI's commitment to advancing knowledge is beyond valuable and this is something that deeply inspires me. ACI has been universally recognized as the world authority in concrete construction. Serving the Institute in this position will allow me to further highlight the Middle East from an international perspective. It is an honor that I truly cherish,” Awad said.
He recently founded Grenea, an investment firm advancing and providing technical assistance to eco-developments around the world. Prior to establishing Grenea, he was the founding Director of Property Development at the Masdar Initiative in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Masdar is a multifaceted initiative advancing the development, commercialization, and deployment of renewable and alternative energy technologies and solutions. He oversaw the development of emission-free Masdar City, the world's first development aiming to become carbon-neutral.
A member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and ASTM International, and a Fellow of the UK Institute of Concrete Technology, Awad's leadership has made ACTS the preferred choice in the Middle East for inspection, testing and geo-engineering works in critical and large-scale projects, including the Qatar Metro, King Abdulaziz International Airport, the Riyadh metro project and the Kingdom Tower, the world's first kilometer-high skyscraper currently under construction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. — SG
