ASTM International Steel Committee Honors Lester Burgess with Highest Award

ASTM International Committee A01 on steel, stainless steel and related alloys honored Lester Burgess, director of quality and technical services at TSP/U.S. Bolt Manufacturing in Houston, Tex., with its most prestigious award.

The A01 Founding Committee Award is presented to members who have marked leadership in technical, administrative, or special activities of Committee A01 by providing outstanding productive service through subcommittees, sections and task groups. The committee noted Burgess’s exemplary contributions to the development and promotion of ASTM steel standards and his outstanding leadership during his tenure.

An active ASTM member for more than 37 years, Burgess currently chairs the subcommittee on mechanical and chemical testing and processing methods of steel products and processes (A01.13) as well as the section group on bolting (A01.22.01). He is also a member of Committees E01 on analytical chemistry for metals, Ores and Related Materials, E28 on Mechanical Testing and F16 on Fasteners. Burgess served a term on the ASTM Committee on Standards from 2008 to 2010. He received ASTM’s highest recognition of individual contributions to standards activities, the Award of Merit and title of fellow, in 2007.

Burgess holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Houston. His professional career has focused on metallurgy, principally in manufacturing, with a focus on quality control and assurance. He started as a metallurgist at Leesona Corp. in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1969, and then moved to Standco Industries Inc. in Houston, where he served as director of quality and metallurgy. He joined TSP/ U.S. Bolt Manufacturing in 1994.

In addition to ASTM, Burgess is a member of the Accreditation Council of the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation, American Petroleum Institute subcommittees, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASM International, ASQ International and the Association of Well Head Equipment Manufacturers.

He is an ASQ-certified quality engineer.