Passing of Jon Asselanis

On April 29th, 2021, Jon Asselanis passed away after valiantly battling his second bout of cancer. Jon originally defeated his first round of cancer five years ago before it returned early last year.

Jon began his path to concrete petrography by obtaining his bachelor’s degree in Geology from Humboldt State University (Arcata, CA). While working as a Research Associate for the University of California, Jon obtained a master’s degree in engineering science from the University of California – Berkeley. Shortly after, Jon joined the ranks of consultants beginning with Schwein Christensen Laboratories, then Applied Materials and Engineering, and finally with Atlas Technical Consultants, formerly CEL-Consulting.

Jon leaves behind a legacy of professionalism, technical service, and numerous close relationships within the California market, as well as in the industry as a whole. Jon is survived by his wife (Tula), son (Peter), and his sister (Kara). Services are scheduled at Ascension Cathedral (Oakland, CA) and will be streamed on YouTube. The stream can be found by searching for Jon’s name and the Church’s name.

Atlas/CEL Petrography Job Posting

Atlas/CEL Consulting has a job opening for an experienced Petrographer at our Structural Investigation and Materials Testing Laboratory in Oakland, California. Experience in microscopical characterization of construction materials, interpretation of results, and consulting with clients is essential. Expertise in analyzing concrete, stucco, mortar, aggregates, rip-rap and other constructions materials is required. Candidates would be responsible for proposals and budgeting, as well as preparation and analysis of petrographic thin-sections and lapped (polished) specimens. Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and the ability to work well with teams are required. Some field work, including coordination of sampling, should also be anticipated.
Responsibilities include:

• Investigation of materials related failures involving various civil engineering construction materials, including cementitious materials, wood, plastics and polymer coatings.
• Preparation of reports and communication with clients, including litigation support

Qualifications:
• Bachelor of Science or higher education in Geology, Materials Science/Engineering, or a related field with coursework in mineralogy, petrology, and geochemistry
• A minimum of 5 years of experience working under the direction of a qualification Petrographer
• Substantial experience with traditional petrographic microscopy: thin section analysis; grain mount analysis; stereomicroscopic examination and analysis; point-counting, including air-void parameter analysis; and preparation of thin sections, polished sections, and lapped hand samples
• Essential knowledge of the operation of the polarized-light microscope
• Knowledge and interpretation of X-ray Diffraction Analysis (XRD)
• Knowledge and interpretation of Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy analysis (SEM/EDS).
• Experience at forensic engineering and investigation related to construction and construction materials
• Valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle

If interested, please send resume to Jon Asselanis at: jasselanis@ce-labs.com
(510) 643-1913

SCP Meeting at ASTM Houston, TX, 9th December 2019

Please join us for the bi-annual meeting of the Society of Concrete Petrographers in Houston, TX occurring in conjunction with the ASTM committee meeting on the Monday December 9th at 6pm immediately after the ASTM C09.65 Task group on C856 meeting. Room location still to be confirmed. Please note the meeting has been arranged for Monday evening rather than our previous more typical Tuesday evening time.

We are planning a short initial meeting to cover some administrative issues after which we can open the meeting up to anyone with recent interesting presentation or findings related to their concrete petrography related investigations. If you already have something you would like to present please let either Ted Sibbick or Daniela Mauro know and we shall do our utmost to timetable you into the evenings events.

Look forward to seeing you there,
Ted Sibbick and Daniela Mauro

SCP Meeting Minutes - New Orleans, December 9, 2014

Attendees: Ted Sibbick, Laura Powers, Adam Brewer, Gerard Moulzolf, Ron Sturm, Jeff Varga, Ray Henderson, Kristen Freeman, Bob Jenkins, Nick Scaglione, Victoria Jennings, Frank Gay, Derek Cong and Fred Shrimer

Call to Order (6:35pm)

Introductions

Review of Membership: 96 members - 72 voting, 24 associate

Business Items
a. It’s time to elect new officers. Laura Powers, as past president, will be heading up the task of putting together the new slate of officers for election.

b. Website – Several items were discussed regarding the website:
- Someone who posted an item on the discussion board wanted to attach photos, although this is currently not an option. It was decided that if possible we will provide the option of attaching photos.
- This brought up additional discussion regarding adding a page to the website, where photos of various petrographic features can be shown. It was determined that this should be a priority to get done.
- In the past we have posted job openings for members. There was a request from a non-member to post their job opening for a petrographer on our website. Discussion was favorable for SCP to provide that service for potential employers. c. Webinars – Prior to the meeting Nancy Whiting brought up the idea of providing webinars to the SCP membership. She states that by having our the SCP meetings in conjunction with the ASTM meetings we only reach a small percentage of our membership and that webinars have the potential to reach the members that don’t attend the ASTM meetings or can’t attend on a regular basis. SCP can use this format to share ideas, recent research and perhaps training. Nick Scaglione suggested that this can be done under the direction of the Programs Committee, although Laura Powers thought it would be better to form a new Educational Committee. Several of the members shared their positive experiences with webinars that they have been involved with. There was also some discussion on a way to make our SCP meetings at ASTM available to members not able to make it to the meeting. d. Petrographic Symposium – ASTM will be holding a Petrographic Symposium at a future meeting. Keep an eye out for the Call for Papers and consider submitting a paper for the symposium.

Presentations
Gerard Moulzolf presented on two petrographic analyses:
- A case study of sodium chloride scaling of a slab-on-grade
- An interesting moisture vapor issue in a terrazzo floor

Nick Scaglione presented on two petrographic analyses:
- Low strength grout cubes, which involved an admixture incompatibility issue and lack of cement hydration
- ASR/Freeze thaw distress of a 1920’s bridge structure in Philadelphia, PA, with a look at the different types of cracking distress dependent on the level of moisture exposure

Bob Jenkins presented some imagery from the Giant Crystal Cave in Mexico for discussion

Discussion
The meeting was finished up with a brief discussion of an advertisement in ACI International of a silicate based “troweling aid” product that is mixed with 4 parts water and how this may adversely affect the surface quality. The trend of using silicate-based ‘cure and seal’ products was also discussed.

Meeting Adjourned (8:15pm)

SCP Meeting Minutes - Toronto, June 24, 2014

The meeting was well attended with a total of 21 members or guests.

Attendees: Derek Cong, Patrick Miller, Bob O’Neill, Laura Powers, Nick Scaglione, Mauro Scali, Ted Sibbick, John Taylor, Fred Shrimer, Carole Anne MacDonald, Ron Sturm, Daniela Mauro, Rachael Barbour, Mengesha Beyene, Karl Peterson, Robert Jenkins, David Rothstein, Gerard Moulzolf, Bill Rebel, Dale Miller, Mark Bury, Jacki Atienza

Review of Membership: Currently 92 members

Review of Log-in procedures for the SCP website

Bob O’Niell and Ted Sibbick gave a brief review of the ICMA Meeting in Milan, Italy
- 125 people in attendance
- Lots of good papers on petrogragraphic topics
- Field trip to the Mapei Facility R & D and tech center

Laura Powers spoke about Masonry Symposium.

Presentation
Jacki Atienza gave a presentation on the new Microsphere technology that BASF has developed for the replacement of air entraining admixtures for freeze/thaw durability. The product is identified as Mastershpere FT300. The presentation was very interesting and Jacki did a great job of presenting the information from a petrographer’s perspective. Mark Bury, a Product Manager from BASF was also on hand to answer production/marketing questions.