US: Ash Grove Cement has appointed Chengqing (Cheng) Qi as its technical centre director at the company’s headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. In his new role, Qi will oversee operations of the company’s technical centre. Greg Barger, an American Concrete Institute (ACI) Fellow and Ash Grove’s long-time technical centre director, will retire in 2017. Barger will continue in this role and work alongside Qi until the transition is complete.

Most recently Qi served as technical manager for a cement manufacturer where he was responsible for troubleshooting cement, concrete and aggregate performance, testing materials and evaluating new material sources. Prior to that, he was with Professional Service Industries in Fairfax, Virginia, as a materials engineer and petrographer.

Qi has authored or contributed to more than 20 technical papers in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. He is a member of multiple technical committees for the ACI and ASTM International.

Qi holds a doctorate in civil engineering, with an emphasis on cement and concrete materials, from Purdue University’s School of Civil Engineering in West Lafayette, Indiana, and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in materials science and engineering from Southeast University in Nanjing, China.