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ASTM Committee on Manufactured Masonry Units elects Ian Chin as Chairman

Words: Catherine AdkinsonIan Chin, vice president and senior principal at Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc. (WJE) in Chicago, Ill., has been elected chairman of ASTM International Committee C15 on Manufactured Masonry Units. WJE is an interdisciplinary firm of structural engineers, architects and materials scientists that specializes in the investigation, analysis, testing and design of repairs for historic and contemporary structures.

Formed in 1937, Committee C15 has a membership of approximately 315 technical experts who oversee ASTM standards development related to the manufacture of manufactured masonry units of inorganic materials, including fired clay and shale, concrete, sand-lime and coatings for such units. C15 includes 13 subcommittees responsible for more than 65 ASTM International published standards.

Chin has been an active ASTM International member since 1986, serving on ASTM Committees C12 on Mortars and Grouts for Unit Masonry, C18 on Dimension Stone, C24 on Building Seals and Sealants and E06 on Performance of Buildings in addition to C15. He was honored with the ASTM Walter C. Voss Award in 2007 for his outstanding contributions to the field of building technology, and received the ASTM Award of Merit and accompanying title of fellow in 2005.

A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he earned a master’s degree in structural engineering and a bachelor’s in architecture, Chin has been with WJE since 1978. His work focuses on the evaluation of architectural and structural problems in existing buildings and structures. He became a vice president in 1992 and senior principal in 2008.

Chin is a licensed architect and professional engineer in several states, and a licensed structural engineer in Illinois. He is a member of the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) and the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (SEAOI), and serves on the Chicago Committee on High-Rise Buildings and the city of Chicago’s Standards and Tests committee. He has won several career awards, including the 2012 John F. Palmer Award from SEAOI and the Structural Engineers Foundation “for his outstanding lifelong contributions and dedication to the pursuit of excellence in structural engineering.”
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