News Detail

Assuring Our Future as We Celebrate Our Past

10/1/2001

The American Concrete Institute is nearing a milestone of significant proportions. In 2004, the Institute will celebrate 100 years of service to the concrete industry. This service has included not only the development and dissemination of technical codes, standards, and guides, but also education, certification, meetings and conventions, and much more. Through the efforts of its members over the years, ACI has become the world’s leading technical resource on concrete. This important status is accompanied by equally important responsibilities and challenges for the future…and ACI is positioning itself to meet these head-on.

Our past success has been built upon a commitment to all facets of ACI’s constituency—customers, members, and volunteers. But success in the future will also require a commitment to the entire concrete "community"—the individuals and organizations having an interest in concrete, worldwide. ACI must reach and be relevant to this community if it is to continue to grow during its second century. It must avail itself of the wealth of information available around the world to build upon the Institute’s remarkable knowledge base. In short, ACI must become a true global entity, the most recognized source for knowledge on concrete.

Assuring the future: Each generation has embraced the concept that "our children represent the future," and this generation is no different. The technical leaders of tomorrow’s concrete industry will come from the ranks of today’s students. But as increasing numbers of career alternatives vie for the attention of our best and brightest students, how can we assure that the concrete community receives its needed share of qualified professionals? This is the primary goal of the new ACI Student Fellowship Program.

This program, which is overseen by the ACI Concrete Research and Education Foundation (ConREF), offers selected high-potential students an opportunity to become immersed in the concrete community, while at the same time reaping the benefits of educational assistance. We believe that once such a student realizes the opportunities that a career in concrete offers, he or she will be inclined to select concrete as a career specialty.

Mentoring the "best and the brightest:" If everyday concrete design and construction is to incorporate the latest thinking on materials, design, and construction techniques, it is imperative that the best minds of today be involved in developing the best minds of tomorrow. Mentoring, never before included in an ACI student program, is central to the success of the new Fellowship Program. Each award recipient is personally connected with a leader from ACI’s member ranks. Depending upon the student’s career goals, he or she could be matched with a contractor, manufacturer, engineer, architect, or designer. It has been recognized that students develop their abilities with exposure to professionals, ideas, and real-world experience. Accordingly, the student fellowship award includes full support for ACI convention attendance and committee participation, as well as an internship during the summer at a business matched to career goals.

Oversight of the program: In all, up to $20,000 per year could be invested in each fellowship recipient, of which about one-half would cover education costs such as tuition, room and board, books, lab fees, etc. Once the program is fully funded, as many as 20 or 30 Student Fellowships could be awarded annually to graduate and undergraduate students. To assure that this considerable investment is directed toward students with high career potential, ConREF relies upon ACI’s Faculty Network to identify students who have a demonstrated ability and interest in concrete. The Faculty Network consists of over 150 educators representing the majority of civil engineering, design, materials, and construction management education curricula in the U.S. and Canada, with plans to expand to colleges and universities worldwide. Candidates identified by the Faculty Network are reviewed by the Scholarship Council, with the finalists being brought to the ACI Convention for interviews by an industry panel. As with regular scholarships, academic performance is important; however, a candidate’s practical capabilities weigh equally in the assessment of career potential. Student Fellowship recipients will be announced each spring.

Funding the program: The Student Fellowship Program was launched using available Institute and scholarship funds, and will ultimately be funded through an endowment built from one-time industry pledges, supplemented with annual gifts.

Daniel L. Baker,
President,
American Concrete Institute

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