January/February 2021 - 105

PEOPLE &
Elmer A. Richards, a
former senior partner
at MRCE, died last fall
at age 90. Richards
joined MRCE in 1952
upon completing his
Richards
studies, and retired in
1997 after having served for 45 years.
He gained experience in the practice of
soil mechanics during an important
period of geotechnology growth and
maturity. His work proved instrumental in establishing the firm's
national reputation in the geotechnical
engineering community. Many of
Richards' initiatives continue to be
integral at the 110-year-old firm,
including progressing its modern soil
mechanics laboratory. In addition, the
MRCE principals continue many of his
traditions as they work to foster
experienced engineers, inspire future
leaders and celebrate employee
accomplishments.
Alfred M. " Pete " Petrofsky, former
CFO and chairman of McMillen Jacobs
Associates, died in December at age 92.
Responsible for some of the firm's most
significant projects, Petrofsky was
recognized and respected worldwide as
a tunnel, chamber and shaft design
consultant. By his
retirement in 2002, he
had amassed a legacy of
over 50 tunneling
assignments in ten
different countries.
Petrofsky
However, his influence
on McMillen Jacobs includes a
philosophy of being honest with clients
and employees, communicating openly
and directly, and offering advice on a
better solution to colleagues.
Silas Nichols, P.E., has been named the
Federal Highway Administration's
Engineer of the Year and has received
the agency's Engineering Excellence
Award. Nichols is the principal

geotechnical engineer in FHWA's Office
of Infrastructure related to constructing
earth and rock works, retaining structures and subsurface investigation. As
the FHWA's engineer of the year, Nichols
will be recognized by the National
Society of Professional Engineers along

COMPANIES

reins from Mike Elliott, who has
dedicated 33 years to ECA, and
continues to serve in a sales mentoring
and business development role.
ECA has agreed to distribute the entire
line of Olin Pump concrete, shotcrete
and grout pumps in the Eastern United
States and Eastern Canada. Both ECA
and ECA Canada Company will provide
sales, rental, parts and service for the
entire lineup of Olin Pumps. These
include deep foundation ball valve,
small line ball valve, s-tube and shotcrete s-tube, which have a multitude of
applications in the deep foundations and
marine construction markets.

Nichols

with other distinguished engineers of
the federal government. The Engineering Excellence award is given annually
by the FHWA to the winner of the
a g e n c y ' s e n g i n e e r- o f- t h e - y e a r
competition in recognition of engineering achievements in the past 3 years, as
well as community contributions.
Mike Roberts has been promoted to
director of pile driving technologies at
Equipment Corporation of America
(ECA), a leading distributor of specialty
fo u n d a t i o n e q u i p m e n t . H e a l s o
continues to serve as director of pile
master products for ECA subsidiary
Foundation Hammers. In this newly
created position,
Roberts is responsible
for all ECA and ECA
Canada pile driving
product-related sales,
service, training and
Roberts
support. His duties
include forecasting, purchasing, sales
and technical support for all branches
and subsidiaries. Roberts is focusing on
onshore and offshore diesel hammers
and accessories, leads, vibratory
hammers, hydraulic impact hammers,
and air hammers. He has taken the

Olin Pump

DFI45 Conference Chair Sebastian
Lobo-Guerrero Ph.D., P.E., from
American Geotechnical and Environmental Services, appeared on the
Engineering Management Institute
Podcast on January 1. He summarized
the success of DFI45, highlighting the
entire process of how this conference

DEEP FOUNDATIONS * JAN/FEB 2021 * 105
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GT7pmFnTPQ
January/February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January/February 2021
