Contributor: Hydraulic Institute

The Hydraulic Institute (HI) 2020 Annual Conference concluded with the Gala & Awards Dinner, Thursday, February 27, 2020 at the J.W. Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, AZ. During the program HI presented awards for the following categories:

Lifetime Achievement –For his tireless commitment to the industry, his leadership, volunteerism, and hard work, the HI Board of Directors was pleased to recognize and honor Mr. Michael Cropper (retd), Global Product Development Manager, Sulzer, as the 2019 HI Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

With 50 years in the industry, Mr. Cropper has been a valuable asset to this community and embodies lifetime achievement. For decades he has been very active in the development of pump standards for the American Petroleum Institute and Hydraulic Institute. As a Product Development Manager, his insistence of Design catalogues for products and compliance to industry standards is legendary. He has touched all aspects of HI work.  Some of these contributions include chairing the Technical Affairs Steering Committee, the OH1 Specification Committee, the Power Plant Committee, and the ANSI/HI 9.6.6 Rotodynamic Pumps for Pump Piping Committee. Additionally, Mr. Cropper has served as the VP of Technical Affairs for HI for the last 7 years.

Member of the Year – Mr. Mark Chaffee, VP, Government Affairs & Sustainability at TACO, Inc. has been selected as the 2019 HI Member of the Year.

Mr. Chaffee distinguishes himself for the level and extent of his involvement which has advanced both the technical work and the advocacy work of the Hydraulic Institute.  Within the Hydraulic Institute, Mr. Chaffee has held leadership positions that include: 

Member of the Technical Affairs Steering Committee

• Chair: HI 40.5 Pump and Extended Product Labeling 
• Chair: HI 41.5 Circulator Pump Labeling Program
• Chair: Government Affairs
• Chair: Energy Rating Oversight Committee
• Vice President of Government Affairs on the HI Board of Directors

Mr. Chaffee’s knowledge of pump systems and energy efficiency have helped HI respond to the significant market shift and the opportunities that have been created around energy efficiency. His frequent visits to Capitol Hill have helped bring energy-efficient pumping systems to the forefront of the public policy discussion.

Standards Partner of the Year – HI has recognized Mr. Steven Fehniger, PSAP, Principal Engineer, CDM Smith as the 2019 Standards Partner of the Year. 

Mr. Fehniger has worked in the Water and Wastewater field for over twenty-five years. He has been active in HI for almost 10 years, and in that time quickly became an active and vital member of the technical community.  In the recent past, Mr. Fehniger has served as Chair of the Pump Systems Optimization (PSO) Guidebook committee, which published a substantial upgrade in 2018, and he earned his Pump System Assessment Professional (PSAP) certification in 2019.

Currently, he is a contributing member on the following HI Technical committees, ANSI/HI 14.7 Hydraulic Performance Field Testing, ANSI/HI 9.6.4 Rotodynamic Pumps for Vibration Measurement and Allowable Values, ANSI/HI 14.5.1 Foundation Design, and ANSI/HI 14.6 Rotodynamic Pump Test. Also, He is serving as the Vice-chair of the ANSI/HI 9.6.6 Rotodynamic Pumps for Pump Piping Committee and as a Work Group Leader for the General Revisions sub-group of that committee.

HI congratulates all award recipients on their well-deserved awards. The Institute would not be in the position it is today without the dedication and the commitment of members and partners.

For high-resolution versions of the images found in this release, please contact Denielle Giordano, Director, Marketing and Events, Hydraulic Institute, at dgiordano@pumps.org.

The Hydraulic Institute: Advancing the pump manufacturing industry by becoming the world’s resource for pumping solutions by: Addressing Pump Systems, Developing Standards, Expanding Knowledge and Resources, Educating the Marketplace and Advocating for the Industry.  For more information on the Hydraulic Institute, visit www.Pumps.org.