David S. Gromala, P.E., director of codes and product acceptance in the iLevel structural wood products division at Weyerhaeuser Co. in Federal Way, Wash., has received the ASTM International Award of Merit and accompanying title of fellow from ASTM Committee D07 on Wood. The Award of Merit is the highest organizational recognition for individual contributions to standards activities.
Gromala was cited "for exceptional contributions in Committee D07 on Wood related to his significant technical contributions in wood engineering as well as the development and maintenance of standards."
An ASTM International member since 1978, Gromala has chaired numerous subcommittees, sections and task groups within Committee D07, contributing to the development of new standards and the revisions of existing standards. He currently serves as section chair of Subcommittee D07.02.06 on Reliability-Based Design. The committee has honored him for his work over the years with the L.J. Markwardt Award as well as an Award of Appreciation and Award of Recognition. In addition to D07, he is a member of Committees D20 on Plastics, E06 on Performance of Buildings and G01 on Corrosion of Metals.
Gromala's career has focused on the structural applications of engineered wood products. He spent nearly a decade conducting research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory before joining the staff at Trus Joist Corp., a division of the Weyerhaeuser Co., in 1984. In 1991, he left the company to begin his own private engineering consulting firm, and then returned to Weyerhaeuser in 1995, when he assumed his current role.
Outside of ASTM International, Gromala is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Forest & Paper Association, part of the American Wood Council.
A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a B.S. in civil engineering, Gromala holds an M.S. in structural engineering from Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. He is the author of more than 100 technical reports in the field of engineered wood products.
Release #7958