Meet the 2024 Overall Excellence Award Judges

Abstract

ACI announced the judges of the Overall Excellence category for the 10th ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards. These three globally renowned concrete professionals will review the first-place winners from each project category and choose the project that will receive ACI's prestigious Overall Excellence Award for exceptional use of concrete in its design and construction. The winning projects will be recognized at the ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards Gala on November 4, 2024, during the ACI Concrete Convention in Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Headnote

Three-member jury will select the most outstanding project

ACI announced the judges of the Overall Excellence category for the 10th ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards. These three globally renowned concrete professionals will review the first-place winners from each project category and choose the project that will receive ACI's prestigious Overall Excellence Award for exceptional use of concrete in its design and construction. The winning projects will be recognized at the ACI Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards Gala on November 4, 2024, during the ACI Concrete Convention in Philadelphia, PA, USA. Judges for the Overall Excellence Award include:

Karla Benitez, Instituto Salvadoreño del Cemento y del Concreto, San Salvador, El Salvador

Benitez is the Executive Director at Instituto Salvadoreño del Cemento y del Concreto (ISCYC). She graduated from Albert Einstein University, Antiguo Cuscatlán, El Salvador, in 1998 with an architectural degree. In 2017, she received her MBA with a specialization in digital marketing from the European Open Business School (Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain) with honors as the best student in the Latin America program.

Some of her early achievements include the design and construction of projects for TIGO corporate offices for an international construction company; receiving a scholarship from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) to study at the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture at Lund University, Lund, Sweden; specializing in social housing and urban development with a study visit to the Philippines in 2010 and later in 2014; and being awarded a scholarship from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to study the earthquake-resistance approach for the Latin America region at the Building Research Institute of Japan (BRI) in Tsukuba, Japan.

She began at ISCYC as a Housing and Technical Advisor, where she introduced lightweight concrete as an alternative for social housing construction at Residencial Altavista to a real-estate developer.

She also created and developed four housing forums, which brought together financial institutions, professional associations, builders, and students of civil engineering and architecture. She held a variety of positions at ISCYC, where she was a key participant in their accreditation by the Salvadoran Institute for Professional Training (INSAFORP), an autonomous government entity, and achieved 90% coverage of awarded funds to develop and implement technical training programs for technicians and professionals in the construction field. She also created the first Sustainable Cities Forum, an annual event with Instituto Salvadoreño de la Construcción (ISC), raising funds for the operation of ISC, where ISCYC is a founding member.

Jonah Hansen, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, New York, NY, USA

Since joining Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) in 2004, Hansen has managed projects of varied scales and programs throughout North America, China, and the Middle East, immersing himself in the entirety of the design process, leveraging his technical expertise to bridge aesthetic, functional, and programmatic requirements.

Hansen's iterative approach to project management embodies KPF's collaborative ethos as a client-oriented. full-service design practice. He is committed to providing a comprehensive spectrum of architectural expertise and client service throughout the design and construction process. As Project Manager for 10 South Van Ness Street, a residential project meeting the highest benchmarks of sustainability in San Francisco, CA, USA, Hansen ushered the project through a complicated and intensive approvals process with the city. Similarly, for Arthaus in Philadelphia, PA, USA, he worked closely with the client, design, and technical teams for over 5 years to guide the project through multiple zoning and approvals boards, as well as tenant negotiations and design reviews, to ensure that the new building design was succinctly knit into the Avenue of the Arts district.

Looking toward the continued advancement of his profession and firm, Hansen sits on both the Peer Review Committee and Technical Directors Group at KPF, forging initiatives to uphold the highest benchmarks of document coordination, organization, and execution.

David Millar, Concrete Institute of Australia, North Sydney, NSW, Australia

Millar is the Chief Executive Officer of the Concrete Institute of Australia (CIA), an independent, not-for-profit professional association made up of members who share a common interest in staying at the forefront of concrete technology, research, design, and construction. Millar's 30 years in the construction industry as a civil engineer has revolved entirely around concrete, and since 2005 he has managed and been a director for related industry and professional associations. He has been CEO of CIA since 2014, and prior to that he was Executive Director of the industry association, Concrete Pipe Association of Australasia, for 10 years.

With a great appreciation of what industry and professional associations can provide to the concrete industry, Millar has always been a keen advocate for their role in society, from both a professional and community perspective. This includes the local affiliate concrete industry associations, sustainability forums and groups, and Standards Australia-the Australian association responsible for codes and standards.

He also has a close affiliation with international groups such as ACI, the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib), the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM), Concrete New Zealand, and the Asian Concrete Federation.

In his time as CEO with the CIA, Millar has convened six major conferences for the Institute, including the fib International Congress held in Melbourne, Australia, in 2018. He has held numerous positions on standards committees and is currently an elected member of the Membership Committee and the CIA representative on the Australian Standards BD90 Task Group 5 for Bridge Design – Concrete and BD10 Portland and Blended Cements. He has also been a judge on numerous concrete industry awards for excellence programs including the CIA and ACI.