We're a small but mighty team of concrete consultants.

Kevin is Beton’s founder and president. He is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and a member of ASTM, ASCE, the Concrete Society and Professional Engineers Ontario.

His commitment to ACI includes a role as the past chair of the 132-Responsibility in Concrete Construction and chair of of subcommittee 130-0B Production/Transport/Construction and 302 Construction of Concrete Floors. Further, he is a member of ACI committees 211-Proportioning Concrete Mixtures, 212-Chemical Admixtures, 223-Shrinkage-Compensating Concrete, and 232-Fly Ash in Concrete and 318 sub A.

In addition to his concrete consulting work, Kevin is an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in the construction management program where he teaches courses in concrete, reinforced concrete design and heavy construction. He brings considerable experience in field and lab concrete, quality control and problem-solving to his students and clients.

He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering as well as a Master’s and PhD in Engineering Materials from the University of Windsor in Ontario. Quality of concrete remains one of Kevin’s interests. He is heavily involved in ACI certification with the Aggregate and Ready Mixed Concrete Association of Minnesota.

Email him at
betonadmin@betonconsultingeng.com.

Rachel is a civil engineer and a fellow of the American Concrete Institute. She teaches technical writing at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and writes most of the  blog posts for our website. With more than 35 years’ experience, she is an expert in concrete testing, construction troubleshooting, and failure analysis.

Rachel designed and directed a multi-laboratory test program that became the basis for changing the relevant ASTM standards to allow 4 inch x 8 inch cylinders to be used on an equal basis with 6 inch x 12 inch cylinders for concrete acceptance testing. She has investigated numerous construction defects and concrete failures, developing practical solutions for her clients. She has also served as an expert witness in concrete-related lawsuits.

Rachel is a member of ACI committees 201-Durability of Concrete, 214-Evaluation of Results of Tests Used to Determine the Strength of Concrete, and 234-Silica Fume in Concrete.

Rachel holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering, an M.S. in Structural Engineering, and a PhD in Civil Engineering Materials from the University of California at Berkeley. She was also a postdoctoral fellow at Institute for Building Materials at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway.

Email her at
rdetwiler@betonconsultingeng.com.

Mark has technical expertise in the cement, concrete, masonry, and aggregate industries. He is a fellow of the American Concrete Institute and has extensive knowledge of cementitious systems, cement and hydration chemistry, gained over more than 30 years of experience. He has performed petrographic examinations of concrete, aggregates, and masonry as well as petrographic examination of historic mortars and concrete. He also has extensive experience with mixture proportioning of shotcrete dry pre-blended mixes.

Mark’s gone out to big projects like the Beacon Hill tunnel in Seattle, and the San Vicente Tunnel in San Diego for troubleshooting and has worked as a research laboratory manager and technical services director in the cement industry, where he became adept at interpreting process conditions through the use of clinker microscopy techniques.

Mark also has extensive experience with new product development and troubleshooting product performance as well as process related issues. His participation in ACI includes: Chair of E701-Materials for Concrete Construction, 524-Plastering, and 225-Guide to Selection and Use of Hydraulic Cements. He is a voting member of 221-Aggregates, 240-Pozzolans, 506-Shotcreting, C621-Cement Tester Certification, and E710-ACI University Programs.

Mark also is active in ASTM and is past-chair of subcommittee C09.46 on shotcrete, and is task group chair for C294 and C295; both relate to concrete aggregates. He’s an examiner and educator for ACI’s shotcrete nozzleman certification program. Mark received a B.A. in Earth Science from the University of Minnesota Duluth.

Email him at
mlukkarila@betonconsultingeng.com.

Sam is a Professional Engineer who has been a project manager and lead field inspector for a variety of construction projects. He performs high level special inspections for excavations, wood framing, post-tensioned and reinforced concrete, as well as structural reinforced concrete masonry.  Sam also works on issues related to building performance, forensics, vibration monitoring and structural movement, as well as forensics.

Sam brings testing laboratory management experience to Beton and is an expert on testing equipment, calibrations, and AASHTO accreditations. He also has experience with instrumentation, surveying, and load testing. One of the more interesting projects he worked on was an historic roof truss that snapped. The solution was to pull the truss together using tension in the massive wood frame member while monitoring the tension to ensure it will endure.

Sam has been a Wilderness EMT and international travel guide and the risk assessment training he received in those roles informs his engineering work with clients. He always is looking to find solutions or provide recommendations that are safe.

Email Sam at skurachek@betonconsultingeng.com.

Julie is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI). She is the chair of 130-Sustainability of Concrete, and a member of 232-Fly Ash in Concrete, 132-Responsibility in Concrete Construction, and 234-Silica Fume in Concrete. She has more than 25 years’ experience in the concrete industry, including 10 years doing product development with a large, international admixture company and 12 years troubleshooting for a cementitious materials, concrete, and aggregate manufacturer.

Julie has promoted sustainable materials and construction practices with designers, contractors, and agency officials. She actively promotes the use of concrete products in building, road and energy markets. Julie’s expertise is in sustainability (LCA, LCC, and EPDs) and innovative implementation of sustainable and resilient construction practices; admixture chemistry, cementitious materials, concrete product development, troubleshooting concrete product performance, and concrete durability modeling and testing. She is proficient in multiple building and infrastructure sustainable rating systems. She earned a B.S. in Chemistry and M.S. in Organic Chemistry from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio.

Email her at
jbuffenbarger@betonconsultingeng.com.

Heidi Lukkarila Romo is Beton’s new field technician and nondestructive testing specialist. She comes to us with 12 years’ experience in field testing and troubleshooting concrete mixtures. She’s worked with construction foremen, finishers, ready-mix concrete producers, and architects to obtain the performance they need from the concrete and make sure it complies with the specifications.

Heidi has observed batch plant operations, materials quality and handling, placement, and finishing. She’s conducted ACI tests for air, slump and compressive strength, inspected forms, and monitored curing. Heidi helped develop the time over temperature method to monitor the strength gain of concrete as it’s curing and has worked for both ready mix and precast concrete companies.

Heidi is also very knowledgeable about soils, aggregates and admixtures. She pioneered the ASTM C33 department for a major Minnesota ready mix concrete company and has worked closely with producers to correct aggregates that don’t meet ACI standards. Currently, she is studying and being trained in petrography.

Read more about Heidi’s experience with aggregates and admixtures on our blog.

Heidi has worked award-winning construction projects such as the I‑35W underground stormwater storage tanks for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and the Mariucci (hockey) Arena for the University of Minnesota.

Email her at hromo@betonconsultingeng.com.

Lori has a background in banking, education, and organizational management. She is Beton’s primary contact for payroll, accounting, human resources, procurement, professional liability insurance and general inquiries.

Email her at betonadmin@betonconsultingeng.com.