News Detail

Supporting Concrete Excellence Worldwide

1/3/2017

At the recent ACI Concrete Convention and Exposition in Philadelphia, PA, the Second Annual Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards Gala was held. The gala recognized concrete innovation and excellence of projects from across the globe. A total of 58 projects were submitted by ACI chapters and international partners. A total of 12 projects won awards, with the highest honor, "The Excellence Award," presented to the Palazzo Italia (Italian Pavilion Expo 2015) located in Milan, Italy, and submitted by the Italy Chapter – ACI. Thank you to the judges, gala committee, all project nominees, and everyone in attendance who helped make this a very successful event. It was amazing to see the forms and functions with which concrete can be used. Truly the imagination is the only limitation.

In November, I had the opportunity to attend the 2016 Asian Concrete Federation Symposium in Hanoi, Vietnam. While there, we met with representatives of the Concrete Institute of Australia, India Concrete Institute, Korean Concrete Institute, and the Taiwan Concrete Institute. We met with three different Vietnamese groups and signed agreements with each. Our first visit was to the Institute for Building Science and Technology (IBST), where we signed an International Partner Agreement (IPA). Later that day, we met with faculty members at the National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) to sign an International Cooperative Agreement (ICA). Our last meeting was with the Ministry of Construction (MOC), where we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The purpose of all three agreements is to improve the collaboration between the parties to develop and disseminate concrete knowledge which will lead to the development of codes and standards for concrete materials and structural design, including codes and standards for high-rise buildings. The agreements also allow the parties to jointly sponsor conferences, seminars, and other educational activities.

I also traveled to Toronto, ON, and Montreal, QC, Canada, to participate in the celebration of the 50th anniversaries of the Ontario and Quebec and Eastern Ontario – ACI Chapters. Both of these chapters have a strong track record of providing value to their members. They are both ACI Certification Sponsors, have hosted ACI conventions, sponsor ACI student chapters, and have scholarship programs. I would like to thank each chapter for being very gracious hosts.

The theme of this issue of Concrete International is Admixtures and Cementitious Materials. I would like to summarize some of the activities of the Strategic Development Council (SDC) in these two areas. SDC is a forum for industry leaders to address key issues and challenges in the industry and to help accelerate the acceptance of new technologies. SDC has identified two Industry Critical Technologies (ICTs) which deal with this month’s theme. Self-consolidating concrete (SCC) and alternative cementitious materials (ACM) have both been the topic of many presentations and much discussion. Each SDC Technology Forum has several Technology Showcases which give attendees the opportunity to learn about research on new products. These showcases have featured admixtures that capture CO₂ while improving compressive strength, admixtures that provide waterproofing capabilities, and viscosity modifiers that improve workability, stability, and pumpability. Presentations have also been made on shrinkage-reducing and shrinkage-compensating admixtures that help reduce the formation of cracks. If you have not attended a SDC event, I strongly encourage you to attend the SDC Technology Forum #41 being held in Dallas, TX, on February 23-24, 2017.

You should also know about an upcoming international conference on cementitious materials. The 10th ACI/RILEM International Conference on Cementitious Materials and Alternative Binders for Sustainable Concrete is being held October 2-4, 2017, in Montreal. This is the first time that ACI and RILEM have jointly sponsored a conference and it is part of an international partnership with Université de Sherbrooke. The purpose of this international conference is to present the latest available scientific and technical information in the field of supplementary cementitious materials and their potential use in concrete. The conference will highlight advances in alternative and sustainable binders and supplementary materials, for which the research is growing in importance.

My experience this year as ACI President has shown me that ACI is truly committed to an "envisioned future where everyone has the knowledge needed to use concrete effectively to meet the demands of a changing world."

Michael J. Schneider