We are proud to announce that our founding Partner, Ramon Gilsanz has received the Concrete Industry Foundation’s Humanitarian Fellow Medal Award for 2019. This award celebrates esteemed members of the industry “for dedication to the industry, community, and society (resulting) in outstanding benefit to future generations”.

In his acceptance speech, he outlined some of the work he has participated in to modernize the New York City Building Code. This work, started in 2002, is ongoing and includes:

  • The first major overhaul of the New York City code in a generation (replacing the 1968 code with the 2008 code)
  • The introduction of a number of structural integrity provisions into the New York code based on the lessons learned from 9/11.
  • Compelling the City of New York to introduce a 4 year Code update cycle.
  • Producing the current, 2014, edition of the NYC Building Code.
  • And he is currently working toward producing a new 2019 edition of the Code.

He was honored to receive this award and thanked the many people who made this work possible; the Department of Buildings (DOB), who stepped in in 2003 to manage and support the Code update process and the many members of the local structural engineering community who have volunteered thousands of hours toward updating and improving the Code.

Ramon thanked our firm, GMS, his partners Phil Murray and Gary Steficek for supporting him in this non-profit endeavor and his daughters Emma and Daniela, his partner Mariko, and his nephew Diego who were all there to celebrate this honor.

We are pleased to see the CIF recognize Ramon’s contributions and know that his Code involvement is only a portion of the work that he has done, and continues to do, to support, improve, educate and promote our industry. Thank you, Ramon, for all you do!

The Concrete Industry Foundation, Inc. and the Concrete Industry Board:

The CIF was established in 1993 to provide financial assistance to students preparing for careers in the design and construction industry, with special emphasis on study related to concrete.

In 1951, the Concrete Industry Board Inc., a non-profit organization, was born out of an extreme need to achieve quality in concrete. Founded by late industry leader Roger H. Corbetta, it has prevailed for almost 70 years in pursuing the highest industry standard of quality in the design and construction of concrete work in the New York Metropolitan area. The CIB is the New York City Chapter of American Concrete Institute (ACI).