DFI People and Companies Steven Adam Kulchin, founder of Kulchin Foundation Drilling, Redmond, Wash., passed away in August. His passion for the drilling industry led him to create the firm in 1998, and he developed many friends and associates during his 30 years in the construction industry. Kulchin pioneered geothermal ground source heat pump systems in the U.S. and he was responsible for the first geothermal foundation project in this country. The project was described in “Energy Piles Gain Traction in North America,” in the July/August issue of this magazine, page 83. The article included an interview with Kulchin about this innovative technology. He was survived by his wife, Kathleen, and children, Joshua, Jacob and Sarah. The firm is dedicated to continuing his legacy of expert and professional service in specialty geotech- nical construction, and announced in September that Tom Lapham will be operations manager; Cody Creighton, general superintendent; Pete Helseth, estimator/project manager; and Theresa Weaver, business manager/controller. Rick Jantzi is now the technical service supervisor at Dynapac USA, part of the Atlas Copco Group. Jantzi began his career in 1984 as a parts and service sales representative for a heavy equipment dealer. He held similar roles with Arrow Rentals and Prime Equipment, becoming regional parts and service manager for Rental Service Corporation (RSC) when that company merged with Prime. For the past seven years Jantzi has served as corpor- ate parts and service manager for RSC. In his new role Jantzi leads the technical service team for Atlas Copco Road Const ruct ion Equipment and is responsible for the overall technical support of Dynapac equipment in the U.S. This role includes training and support for dealers, customers and internal personnel nationwide. Jantzi earned an applied sciences degree in diesel technology from the Oregon Institute of Technology. He is based out of Atlas Copco’s Phoenix offices. Ray Shelor has accepted the position of product line manager for down- the-hole (DTH) equip- ment at Atlas Copco Construction Mining Technique USA, effective immediately. Shelor had been the product line manager for top hammer equipment for the past six years. In his new role of managing the complete DTH equipment line, Shelor continues to serve the oil and gas markets, as well as the mining and aggregate industries. Shelor is located in the Roanoke, Va., engineering facility. Ross Gjerde is now a product line manager for top hammer equipment at Atlas Copco Construc- tion Mining Technique USA. Previously Gjerde was a product and business development manager for Atlas Copco’s parts and service division. His new duties include developing sales and marketing strategies, supporting sales channels and driving product development to meet customer requirements for top hammer equipment. Schnabel Engineering, Inc. (Schnabel), Glen Allen, Va., was ranked 10th on the “Best Civil Engineering Firms to Work For” l ist by CE News magazine. The announcement was made in July at the “Best Firms to Work For” Summit meeting in Seattle. The criteria used to make the selection included culture, benefits, compensation, performance/recognition, recruiting and employee retention, and professional development, as well as an employee satisfaction survey. Ulrich Frenzle took over the management of the product group Mining & Construc- tion for Aker Wirth in September. He replaces Hans Greve who will concentrate on selected projects and business develop- ment activities. Frenzle has more than 20 years of experience in top management at well-known international companies in the fields of mechanical and plant engineering. Williams Form Engineering Corporation announced the grand opening of the company’s 8th manufacturing plant. Located in Wayne, Neb., this state-of-the- art ground anchor, micropile and post- tensioning facility provide Williams’ signature, cold-rolled Grade 75 and Grade 150 All-Thread bars to customers coast-to- coast. Williams’ other locations are in/near Atlanta, Philadelphia, Grand Rapids, Denver, San Diego, Portland and London, Ontario. Williams Form Engineering Corporation announced that Pete Speier is now the firm’s Western U.S. applications engineer. He has over 15 years of experience as a project manager with DFI/ADSC contractor members Condon-Johnson and Malcolm Drilling, and will operate out of the San Diego Office. Speier is a graduate of San Diego State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and is a licensed Professional Civil Engineer in the state of California. His experience in the design and construction of foundations and anchored earth retention systems enhances Williams’ Engineering capabilities and supports the Western Technical Sales Team. Ugo Piccagli, Ph.D., founder of the Bencor Corporation of America, has retired from Bencor/Layne organization. He was hired by Icos of Milan, Italy in 1961, and worked with that firm on projects in Europe, Africa and North America. He left Icos when the slurry wall installation for the World Trade Center in New York was completed in 1969, and moved to Dallas, Texas, where he founded and ran Bencor from 1969 until 2010. The firm became a million dollar organization, specializing in heavy foundation for dams, subways and other projects using the slurry wall technique. Bencor worked on the Boston Big Dig, the Washington and New York subways, and installed shafts for sewer lines and helped repair large dams for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Piccagli sold the company to Layne Christensen in 2010 and consulted in 2011-2012. He now dedicates his free time to restoring and racing vintage cars. DEEP FOUNDATIONS • NOV/DEC 2012 • 91
