Thomas P. Pastor Honored by ASME for His Contributions to Codes and Standards

NEW YORK, Nov. 23, 2011 – Thomas P. Pastor, P.E., a resident of Manchester, Conn., and vice president at HSB Global Standards (Hartford, Conn.), was honored by ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) for extraordinary leadership and tireless efforts in the development of market relevant standards products, the implementation of effective organizational and process enhancements, and in advancing the acceptance of ASME codes and standards and conformity assessment programs worldwide.  He received ASME’s Melvin R. Green Codes and Standards Medal.

The medal honors the memory and extraordinary contributions of Melvin R. Green, an ardent supporter of industrial standards and longtime employee of the Society.  It recognizes outstanding contributions to the development, promulgation or management of documents, objects or devices used in ASME programs of technical codification, standardization and conformity assessment.  The award was presented to Mr. Pastor during ASME’s 2011 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, held in Denver, Nov. 11 through 17.

Pastor has 33 years of experience working in the areas of stress analysis and pressure vessel design.  He began his career in 1977 with Combustion Engineering (Windsor, Conn.), where he was a member of the structural analysis group responsible for performing load analyses of nuclear reactor internals subject to seismic and loss of coolant events.  Over nine years, he developed significant expertise in performing finite element analyses and scientific programming.

In 1986, Pastor joined the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co. (HSB) and worked in the Codes and Standards (C&S) Group in Hartford, Conn.  During his 25-year tenure at HSB, he rose from staff engineer to manager of codes and standards to director, and is currently vice president of code services for HSB Global Standards.  He has managed the C&S Group for more than 20 years, and led the development of several knowledge-based databases which are used today to provide code technical support to over 3,000 ASME certificate holders and inspectors worldwide.  Today, Pastor continues to lead the C&S Group as well as consult with HSB management on new strategic initiatives.

Pastor’s ASME code expertise is in pressure vessels, and he has taught basic-to-advanced seminars on Boiler and Pressure Vessel (BPV) Code Section VIII-Division 1, Design and Fabrication of Pressure Vessels, more than 100 times to audiences around the world.  He has authored numerous technical papers on the subject of stress analysis and ASME code development.

An ASME Fellow, Pastor has been serving on the Society’s BPV committees, with a primary emphasis on pressure vessel design and analysis, for 24 years; for 15 of those 24 years he has served as an officer on at least one committee.  During his tenure as chair of Subcommittee VIII-Pressure Vessels, he oversaw the development and publication of the revised Section VIII-Division 2, Rules for Construction of Pressure Vessels.  Pastor played a role in improving the standards development process within ASME.  He promoted the use of electronic balloting for handling interpretation work within Section VIII.  He also led a team to develop the first Committee Handbook for new and existing volunteers; it summarizes the entire standards development process utilized by ASME committees. 

In support of ASME’s effort to increase international participation, Pastor worked with ASME staff to launch a new volunteer orientation training session during each Boiler Code Week.  He has also contributed to the reorganization of the Boiler Code Standards committees while serving as vice chair of the BPV Standards Committee. 

Pastor currently serves on ASME’s Council on Standards and Certification, Board on Pressure Technology Codes and Standards (PTCS), Board on Hearings and Appeals, Technical Oversight Management Committee, BPV-VIII Standards Committee and Subgroup on Design, and the PTCS Projects Oversight Group.  Pastor received a PTCS Dedicated Service Award in 2002 and ASME’s J. Hall Taylor Medal in 2006.

Pastor earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering, with emphasis on structural design and analysis, at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, in 1975 and 1977, respectively.  He is a registered professional engineer in Connecticut and Indiana.

About ASME ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.