Last week, ENR (Engineering News-Record)’s editors searched their magazine’s web and print pages for individuals who had served the “best interests of the construction industry and the public” in 2017.

We’re proud to learn that ENR’s Top 25 Newsmakers of 2017 included Stefano Panseri, Engineer and Managing Director at Despe S.p.A. – an Italy-based demolition engineering firm that developed The Self Climbing Kokoon. This Kokoon creates a curtain of steel that shields the active construction site from the elements. Demolition teams have used related technology before, but this cocoon is the first tool of its kind designed to be used during construction.

Metropolitan Walters, the integrated division of the Walters Group that offers installation and erection services to the New York City market, has secured exclusive North American rights to use this new Self Climbing Kokoon technology. They recently deployed it for the first time on a 70-storey mixed-use high-rise that is part of the One Manhattan West Project on Ninth Avenue.

Congratulations to the rest of the nominees on the ENR Top 25 Newsmakers list!