Meet your 2025 GRAND Champions of Fusion!

by Larissa Copeland
Posted in Articles & Job Stories, Champion of Fusion, CONNECTIONS, INFUSION
This article was featured in the August 15, 2025 issue of McElroy Connections.

When we first started our Champions of Fusion promotion in 2022, we had no idea just how strong and wide-reaching the response would be. This year’s entries were fantastic examples of McElroy’s vision to improve the world through better infrastructure, and we couldn’t be more proud to see the innovation, dedication, and pride that has gone into each and every one of this year’s entries.

That said, it’s time to announce:

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2025 GRAND CHAMPIONS OF FUSION: GUSTAVO SEPULVEDA, JASON TICHON, ADRIAN ROBERTS, AND MICHAEL KEMPSON!

Gustavo, Jason, Adrian, and Michael will all be joining us in Tulsa Sept. 22-28 for INFUSION25, and we couldn’t be more excited to have them here.

Keep reading to see more about each winner’s individual entries.

Gustavo Sepulveda

Large black industrial pipes with tall vertical vents are assembled on a sandy construction site, surrounded by trees and a clear sky, with a green machine and scattered materials nearby.
A construction site shows a large excavator lifting a black pipeline section, while workers guide it into position. Nearby, a green fusion machine sits on sandy ground under a cloudy sky. Buildings are visible in the background.

Gustavo submitted a fantastic example of the different configurations that can be achieved using fused HDPE. This job, in Naples, Florida, involved replacing steel lines with 24-inch DR11 at a water treatment plant. Pipe here was fused with a TracStar® 900.

Jason Tichon

A large black pipeline is being installed outdoors on muddy ground with patches of snow, using heavy machinery. Trees and a clear sky are visible in the background.
Yellow and green construction vehicles are working on installing a large pipeline across a snowy, open landscape under a partly cloudy sky. Tire tracks and machinery marks are visible in the snow.
Construction site with large machinery installing metallic pipes underground; excavators and a crane lift and position pipe sections as workers operate equipment in a dirt trench under clear blue sky.
A large pipeline is being installed in a deep trench at a construction site. Excavators, equipment, and ladders surround the area. The exposed pipe is partially supported by straps and machinery.

The project was a 9.3km 30″ DR9 HDPE water supply pipeline for Air Products new transformative Net-Zero Hydrogen  Energy Complex near Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  The complex will deploy advanced technology and an innovative design to deliver net-zero emissions.

The main requirement from the client was that the entire pipeline be completely butt fused together (no couplers allowed).  Once completed, the pipeline successfully passed hydro-testing. Jason, along with two other technicians, started fusing the pipeline in November 2024 and finished in mid-April 2025. Joints were fused using four TracStar® 900i machines with in-ditch kits in both four-jaw and three-jaw configurations.

Adrian Roberts

A large machine works on welding or joining a long metal pipeline in a rural landscape at sunrise, with scattered trees and a colorful sky in the background.
A large crane lowers a heavy pipeline section into a dirt trench as two workers in safety gear guide it. The construction site is set in a dry, open landscape under a partly cloudy sky.

Adrian submitted two entries for this year’s the contest. The first, on the left, showed the results of the night shift winding down after a long night fusing pipe with the TracStar 900i. This job involved 630mm PN 16 pipe for the Kone Gold Project in the Ivory Coast of West Africa.

Adrian’s second entry comes from the 2015 Wheatstone Gas Project in Western Australia. There, Adrian used the TracStar 900 for in-ditch welding on a 450mm PN20 tie-in. As you can see in the photo, the machine was supported by a 600-ton crawler crane and is a great example of what can be achieved with the right equipment.

Michael Kempson

A large drilling machine is being lowered into a deep, metal-lined construction pit by cranes, while a worker in a safety vest observes from above.
A large blue plastic pipe is being fused using a green McElroy pipe fusion machine at a construction site with concrete walls in the background.

Michael’s entry involved slip-lining a 600mm concrete jacking pipe with 80m of 560mm SDR17 pipe under a river in London.

A conventional TracStar 900 machine couldn’t be used due to the close proximity of the sheeted wall, so a new Tritan® 560 machine was lowered into the 7m pit to complete the job welding from the side!

We at McElroy would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to everyone who submitted an entry into this year’s contest. When we debuted Champions of Fusion in 2022, we envisioned a space to highlight and showcase the hard work and dedication of thousands of fusion technicians who help us realize our vision of making the world a better place through better infrastructure.

That said, we’ve already gotten a handful of great entries for our 2026 promotion, which officially kicked off July 1. We’ll continue to feature entries in each edition of Infusion, and we’re pretty sure you’ll be just as impressed as we are.

Related Posts