A Citadel cadet in his third year at the iconic, Charleston, SC military college is the latest recipient of the coveted Mac Nigels Scholarship, named for the noteworthy engineering alum who honed his skills in the Lowcountry driven pile industry. Cadet Grady Meeks won the honor and was recognized during the November 14 dinner meeting of the PDCA South Carolina Chapter. Meeks holds a 3.891, has accumulated a number of academic and performance awards, and expects to graduate from the school in Spring 2026. Mac Nigels' son and longtime South Carolina Chapter member Scott Nigels made the presentation of the 18th annual award, named for his late father who is known for his legacy of faith, character, and integrity.

Attending in support of Meeks, a Charleston native who is involved locally in the Citadel ASCE Chapter and Ducks Unlimited organization, were his parents, girlfriend, fellow Cadets, and Dr. Simon Ghanat from the Citadel faculty who assists the Chapter in coordinating this scholarship.

(L-R) Jason Moore, Scott Nigels, Kent Parker

After presenting Meeks with the award, Chapter leadership formally acknowledged and thanked Scott Nigels who recently retired from Palmetto Pile Driving. A former Chapter president and Board member himself, he has greatly contributed to the organization over the years through coordinating the annual scholarship and preparing the yearly Oyster Roast. The Nigels legacy in the pile driving industry continues with Scott's daughter Kelsy Nigels who is the office manager at Palmetto Pile Driving in Charleston. The presentations were part of the busy, fourth quarter meeting of the South Carolina PDCA. The evening began with member networking and socializing, followed by Chapter announcements from president Kent Parker and PDCA announcements from executive director Frank Peters. Members were introduced to scholarship winner Grady Meeks during the buffet style dinner. Following dinner, Louis Nash, PE from Nucor Skyline gave a technical presentation of a case study entitled the Mantoloking Steel Sheet Pile Dune Restoration Project

• Jan. 17 - Oyster Roast (at Palmetto Pile Driving)
• Feb. 13 - quarterly meeting (all quarterly meetings at Town and Country Inn & Suites, Charleston)
• May 8 - quarterly meeting
• Aug. 14 - quarterly meeting
• Nov. 13 - quarterly meeting. (2025 Nigels Scholarship presentation, Chapter leadership election)

Thanks to the annual sponsors of the PDCA South Carolina Chapter which include: Koppers, Nucor Skyline, Jinnings Equipment, Junttan, Gerdau, ICE-International Construction Equipment, Palmetto Pile Driving, Van Smith Concrete and Beacon Transportation.

(L-R) Chapter VP Jordan Houston, Bill Thomas, Brian Land, Candi Stegall, Pres. Kent Parker, Kali Shaefer

During the first three months of 2024, the PDCA South Carolina Chapter delivered members a full slate of events that provideded a variety of opportunities for member engagement; among them were educational enrichment through the Driven Pile Technical Seminar, fellowship and trivia during an impromptu happy hour, and extension of a longstanding Chapter tradition with the annual Oyster Roast. On Thursday, May 16, 2024, the Chapter convened for its first formal dinner meeting of the year, and the first chance for president Kent Parker to conduct official Chapter business. 

After the networking happy hour that precedes every Chapter dinner, Parker called the meeting to order and delivered opening remarks. The new president began: "Wow! I want to thank John King for his dedicated service as past president, but I have to tell you - I feel like Ronald Reagan taking over for Jimmy Carter** up here. The bar was set, but not too high..." The good-natured remark drew laughter from King, and those in the crowd who understood that it was a well-intended, ice-breaking quip to highlight King's propensity for discussing politics.

(L-R) Pres. Carter*, John King

*PDCA credits the Atlanta Braves organization which posted the photo of Pres. Carter on X

**(Parker's invocation of two former, American presidents references politically motivated recollections of their two very different, but no less distinguished, public service careers. PDCA does not endorse political ideologies, but in this case, recognizes the words as nothing more than harmless, playful rhetoric, rooted in 40-year-old political party-line narratives. May former President Reagan rest in peace, and may former President Carter receive the best care available in his fragile state. Both highly-accomplished men led remarkable American lives.)

Following the short, general business meeting that recapped the various events to date in 2024, Parker recognized two Chapter Board members who won 2023 PDCA Association Awards, recently announced during a special awards ceremony in Dallas, TX. Jason Moore, a former Chapter and PDCA president, and presently the Chairman of the PDCA Communications Committee, was presented the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service. Also, Greg Canivan, a past Chapter president and current PDCA Board of Directors member, received the John T. Parker Industry Ambassador Award, a special honor that singles out a South Carolina Chapter member for demonstrating a commitment to advocating the driven pile on both local and global platforms.
Parker introduced the informational program while attendees enjoyed a buffet-style dinner. Adam Jarrett and Kali Shaefer are insurance professionals with Assured Partners, who specialize in management of a heavy construction clientele. Jarrett delivered a presentation entitled 'The State of the Insurance Market,' which discussed the conditions, sometimes negative, that commercial customers are facing, but also pinpointed signs for optimism in some of the industry forecasting. At the same time, he articulated the mounting challenges that carriers face due to ongoing changes in the regulatory environment. His presentation prompted a series of questions at the conclusion of the program.

Before the meeting ended, Parker held a raffle for attendees through a random drawing of business cards. Chapter member Taylor Kelso  was the lucky winner of a $75 gift card to Outback Steakhouse. The next meeting of the PDCA South Carolina Chapter is scheduled for August 8th at the Town and Country Inn & Suites in Charleston, SC.

See who was SPOTTED at the 2024 second quarterly meeting of the South Carolina Chapter:

• John Ryan, PhD, PE, Assistant Professor at The Citadel - Axial Load Limits for Prestress Concrete Piles
• David Borger, PE, Director of Engineering at Nucor Skyline - Corrosion of Steel Piles & Staged Construction of Support of Excavation
• Michael Wysockey, PhD, PE, President of Thatcher Foundations - Driven vs. Drilled Deep Foundations
• Mohamad Hussein, PE, EVP GRL Engineers, Inc. - Dynamic Pile Testing: Basic Principles, Data Interpretation, and Practical Applications
• Matt Caskey, PE, Director of Sales and Business Development at DuroTerra - Ductile Iron Piles: Driven Piles for Constrained Access and Low-Vibrations Applications

Thanks to the following sponsors, the Driven Pile Technical Seminar afforded attendees with a full day of quality deep foundations programming, along with breakfast, lunch and snacks. The PDCA South Carolina Chapter thanks the generous supporters of this important event:

• Cape Romain Contractors
• Consolidated Pipe & Supply
• Essve Tech
• Gerdau
• International Construction Equipment
• Junttan
• Koppers
• Nucor Skyline
• Palmetto Pile Driving, Inc.
• Pile Drivers, Inc.
• S&ME
• Soil Consultants, Inc.

Photos of the event presenters and attendees are below:

Greg Canivan	Michael Wysockey	Mohamad Hussein
David Borger	Matt Caskey	John Ryan