DSC00742 Jon E. Khachaturian

President and CEO, Versabar, Inc., Belle Chasse, Louisiana

Presentation: Versabar – “Unique Lifts”

After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1978, Jon began his career in Gretna, Louisiana, with PetroMarine. For four years he participated in the design and construction of platforms noticing the expensive and cumbersome custom rigging packages that were built then discarded after heavy lifts were performed. This led to the invention which would become the cornerstone of a growing business, the patented reusable spreader bar

With his rigging inventory, Jon was able to steadily grow his business by leasing to his customers a safe, reliable and more affordable alternative toconventional rigging systems. Today, with headquarters in Belle Chasse, Louisiana and Houston, Texas and numbering over 700 employees Versabar has a worldwide reach, having performed over 100,000 lifts on six continents since its inception over 30 years ago. (read more after the jump)

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Over the years operators have continued to bring lifting challenges to Khachaturian which has led to additional patented innovative lift solutions; Versabuild – land based lift system, Versatruss – shallow water heavy lift system and the Deck Raising system – used to add additional air gap to offshore platforms. The most current engineered lift solutions are the “Bottom Feeder” salvage system and the heavy-lift system the VB 10,000.

Jon holds over 60 international and domestic patents and his technical innovations have received numerous engineering awards. In 2010 Jon was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering.

Jon and his wife Bobbi have three children, and three granddaughters. Son Matthew has followed his father and his late grandfather, Professor Emeritus Narbey Khachaturian, as a third generation civil engineering graduate of the University of Illinois.