Congratulations to Our 2025 Annual Conference Award Recipients!

At the 2025 Annual Conference (AC25) in Nashville, the Construction Industry Institute (CII) was honored to award and recognize six extraordinary individuals for their exemplary contributions to CII.

JAMES B. PORTER, JR. AWARD FOR TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP - MARTIN SWAINE, SHELL

Since 2007, CII has granted the James B. Porter, Jr. Award. The award is given to an individual who exhibits the traits and leadership qualities displayed by James Porter, including vision, technical acumen, leadership, and a commitment to people. Porter was instrumental in advancing technology within capital projects.

CII is proud to honor Martin Swaine as the 2025 awardee for being a dedicated leader and contributor to CII’s research efforts, technology committee, and driving technological awareness and advancements. Martin has been leader in the industry and in his role with Shell to advance the implementation of technology on capital projects.

Martin was very active in establishing standards for the implementation of both ND CAD as well as data standards. He received the STAR award in 2015 for his leadership in the AWP Information Mapping (AIM) project. This was the predecessor to the AWP Data Requirements work. Demonstrating his passion for advancing technology across our industry is what made Martin Swaine a clear stand-out for the Porter Award this year.

RICHARD L. TUCKER SERVICE & LEADERSHIP AWARD - TRICIA THIBODEAUX, FLUOR

Every year, the Richard L. Tucker Leadership & Service Award recognizes an individual who has greatly contributed to the advancement of CII’s mission and success as an organization. Named after Dr. Richard Tucker, who personally created the Construction Industry Institute in 1983 and served as the first CII director from its inception until retiring his retiring as director in 1998.

The 2025 winner of the Richard L Tucker Leadership and Service Award is none other than Tricia Thibodeaux, Global Director for HSE, at Fluor. She has been an active volunteer in CII for the past 14 years. Tricia is one of the first people the CII leaders and members turn to when they need advice or help -- and she always makes time to support CII, its mission and of course, members.

Tricia served on the CII Executive Committee for a total of five years, including one year as CII’s Chair. She was a dedicated member of the Funded Studies/Research Committee for five years, including two years as the Chair. She led a two-year research project (RT-308) and has served as one of Fluor’s Board Advisors for the past nine years.

In 2019, CII presented the Distinguished Service Award to Tricia (the only award selected by the CII staff) and we are beyond thrilled to honor her again, with the Richard Tucker Award for Service.

CARROL H. DUNN AWARD OF EXCELLENCE - LOU CABANO, PATHFINDER

Established in 1985, the Carrol H. Dunn Award of Excellence is given every year to honor an individual with significant achievements in improving the engineering and construction industry. The award is CII’s highest honor and is recognized as one of the most prestigious awards within the industry.

CII is honored to announce the 2025 Dunn Award of Excellence was posthumously given to Mr. Lou Cabano. The award was accepted on behalf of his family by his son, Steve.

Lou’s influence on clients and industry was far-reaching. Members of the National Academy of Construction noted Lou worked with them to develop-world class-project-management guidelines and training based on internal processes & CII research outcomes. His dedication and high ethical and moral-standards were evident in every-interaction they had with him.

His legacy will continue to guide Pathfinder, and his spirit remains part of the company, of CII, and of numerous other organizations that he supported through the years. It’s a legacy that promotes professional excellence, continuous improvement, dedication to family, and passion for mentoring future generations.

OUTSTANDING VOLUNTEER AWARD - DAVE BULLARD, ORACLE

Based on exemplary demonstration of commitment to the mission of CII, CII is honored to name Oracle’s Dave Bullard as this year’s Outstanding Volunteer Award winner.

After working for three different member companies over the years, Dave has demonstrated a continued commitment and expertise in bringing colleagues and clients into CII. If you’ve volunteered on a committee or team with him, you know he’s the first one to raise his hand to help get the job done. He continuously demonstrates a “can do” attitude in everything he does for the industry and for CII.

As a leader in CII’s Deployment Committee and through pivotal roles in CII’s Mentor and Onboarding programs, Dave helps to ensure CII’s new, returning and existing members are finding value in their membership. He has served on three CII research teams (RT-364, RT-371 and RT-394). Thanks to his evangelism of CII, Oracle leaders are familiar with our work and Dave does his very best to share the work of CII among Oracle’s impressive client roster. Dave Bullard exudes the true spirit and culture of CII and was an easy selection for the Outstanding Volunteer recognition this year.

OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC AWARD

This year, CII celebrates two academics whose support and contributions have had an innovative and effective impact on CII efforts.

Outstanding Academic Award 1 – Jeyoung Woo, Ph.D., PMP, PE, Cal Poly Pomona
We are happy to present the Outstanding Academic award to Jeyoung Woo for his vital and insightful contributions to the recent work of CII’s Research Team 406. Specifically, he addressed the often-neglected – yet very critical -- cultural dimension of quality management throughout this project.

Outstanding Academic Award 2 – Behzad Esmaeili, Ph.D., MS, Purdue University
The Executive Committee decided this year to recognize a second Outstanding Academic for their dedication to improving the safety of our industry. We are pleased to present another Outstanding Academic, Behzad Esmaeili from Purdue University, with an award for serving as the Safety CBA Academic Advisor and more recently for his work in RT: 405 – Leveraging Culture and Behavior to drive AWP Success.

OUTSTANDING STUDENT AWARD

The Executive Committee has decided to also recognize two students who have made important contributions to a CII initiative that could greatly impact the construction industry.

Outstanding Student Award 1 – In Bae Chung, University of Texas at Austin
Many CII members know In Bae from his hands-on support with RT-410’s work to refresh the data for the implementation of CII Best Practices today. This is a critical project to the membership and we recognize his crucial role throughout this effort, We are also pleased to announce that In Bae will be joining the CII staff as a Postdoctoral Researcher, serving as our Benchmarking Manager. In this role, he will lead efforts in data collection, training, and management of the Data Warehouse and safety survey data. He will also serve as an instructor for the Best Practices course.

Outstanding Student Award 2 – Daniel Mehrabi, Ph.D., PMP, Arizona State
Daniel supported CII Research Team 402 over the two-year effort, and the members recognized him to be an enabler of success for this team, specifically on the large amount of tools and deliverables produced. He also played a critical role contributing to the design of multiple data collection instruments, including 13 case studies, ten surveys, four workshops and one Delphi panel.

Closing Remarks

On behalf of the staff and members of CII, we extend our gratitude to all our award winners for their outstanding support and contributions. Their achievements continue to elevate our industry through innovation, collaboration and unwavering dedication to the mission of CII. Thank you for inspiring progress and excellence.

James B. Porter, Jr. Award for Technology Leadership:  Martin Swaine, Shell	Richard L. Tucker Service & Leadership Award:  Tricia Thibodeaux, Fluor
Carrol H. Dunn Award of Excellence: Lou Cabano, Pathfinder	Outstanding Volunteer Award: Dave Bullard, Oracle
Outstanding Academic Award:  Jeyoung Woo, Cal Poly Pomona	Outstanding Academic Award:  Matt Sikstrom, Ontario Power Generation
Outstanding Student Award:  In Bae Chung, University of Texas at Austin	Outstanding Student Award:  Daniel Mehrabi, Purdue University