Pluimer is an Associate Professor in the Civil Engineering Department and Director of the Advanced Materials Center. The Award of Merit is a peer-nominated award and is the highest society award given to an individual member by ASTM International (formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials).
The award comes with the honorary title of Fellow of ASTM International and recognized him for his “outstanding contributions and leadership in developing standards and test methods related to plastic piping systems and materials, introducing ASTM standards into graduate coursework at the UMD, and in the overall operation of ASTM International Committee F17 on Plastic Piping Systems.”
Pluimer brought graduate student Sara Stone to the conference as well. And Pluimer said, "It was a great testimony to UMD’s commitment to ASTM and in educating the next generation of professionals. ASTM leadership indicated that they would like to visit our program and see how we are incorporating ASTM standards and training into our curriculum."
Pluimer also said "Sara did an amazing job representing our students and program at UMD, and I was very proud to have her in attendance."