NPCA professional staff traveled to El Paso, Tex., from October 23-26 to attend outreach-related meetings with regulators and academia.
Vice President of Technical Services and Professional Development Marti Harrell and Director of Certification and Regulatory Services Chris Frederick first met with Alan Shubert, who serves as El Paso Water Utility’s Vice President of Engineering, Operations and Technical Services.
During the meeting, Harrell and Frederick familiarized Shubert with the NPCA Plant Certification program and discussed the benefits of including NPCA certification as a requirement in El Paso Water construction specifications. Shubert expressed interest in exploring this opportunity further and will continue to work with Frederick on implementing the requirement.
Additionally, Shubert offered to connect NPCA with New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, N.M., for potential education outreach opportunities.
Harrell and Frederick also spent time at the University of Texas El Paso (UTEP) to meet with UTEP College of Engineering Dean Theresa Maldonado, Ph.D., and several other professors in the department. Western Precast Operations Manager Leo Feuerstein also attended the meeting as a local industry representative.
The meeting was a productive one, as the group explored potential partnerships with research, grants, scholarships, Master Precaster certification, and a local high school’s STEM program.
Harrell noted Dr. Maldonado and fellow professors were excited about the possibilities of working with NPCA to develop more precast-specific curriculum for their programs.
Contact Ashley Benson to learn more about conducting outreach in your local community.
Leave a Reply