Lebanon-based Advanced Construction Technology Services (ACTS) said its chairman and founder Khaled Awad has been appointed the vice president of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for a two-year term.

Headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan (US), the institute is a world authority and resource on concrete technology. It produces the main building codes that are universally adopted in engineering design and concrete construction.

With this announcement made during the recently-held Concrete Convention and Exposition in Kansas City, US, Awad has become the first member from the Middle East region to assume this post, said the company in its statement.

Founded in 1904, the institute is a member-based technical organisation with around 20,000 members worldwide.

ACTS, a leading consulting organisation in the field of construction materials and geotechnical engineering, is the local sponsoring group of the institute for its certification programmes in the Middle East.

The Lebanese firm has been offering these courses since 1996, and has trained more than 5,000 personnel all over the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region and certified more than 2,000 in the various ACI certification programs.

Along with Awad, two others - Sharon Wood, was elected to serve as president for 2015-2016, and Michael Schneider was proclaimed senior vice president for a two-year term, the company statement said.

Additionally, four members have been elected to serve on the institute's board, each for a three-year term. These include JoAnn P. Browning, Cesar A. Constantino, Kimberly Kayler, and Roberto Stark.

On the appointment, Awad said: "I am honoured 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."

Awad, a renowned expert in concrete technology and sustainable construction, has been working in the real estate and construction industry in the Middle East for more than 25 years, the statement added.-TradeArabia News Service