The American Concrete Institute announces the winners of its Mortar Workability Competition and Eco Concrete Competition, held recently at the Concrete Convention and Exposition in Quebec City, QC, Canada.                     

Mortar Workability Competition

Teams are challenged to create a mortar mixture with optimum flowability and stability. Students mix mortar at the convention competition site and their mixture is poured into a mold made in the shape of the letters “aci” from the top of the letter “a”. Both flowability and mixture stability are evaluated. In creating their mortar mixture, teams must pay careful attention to the specified material requirements just as concrete producers must meet specification and project requirements on a daily basis.

Cost Category

1st place: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (USA)

Students: Dalton Brookshire, David Rall

Faculty Advisor: Anne Werner

2nd place: Missouri University of Science & Technology (USA)

Students: Scott Grier, Dawson Kirtley, Victoria Smith

Faculty Advisors: Dr. Dimitri Feys, Dr. Lesley Sneed

3rd place: Universidad Autónoma De Nuevo León (Mexico)

Students: Gladis Aile Alvarez-Arellano, Hugo Armando Cantú-Valero, José Gerardo Elizondo-Silva,

Miguel Ángel González-Tristán, Reynaldo Rafael Liñan-Gaona, Obed Isaí López-Aranda, Martin Alejandro Ruiz-Pimentel, Hector Valencia-Desilagua

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Alejandro Durán-Herrera

Overall Category

1st place: Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (Mexico)

Students: Gladis Aile Alvarez-Arellano, Hugo Armando Cantú-Valero, José Gerardo Elizondo-Silva,

Miguel Ángel González-Tristán, Reynaldo Rafael Liñan-Gaona, Obed Isaí López-Aranda, Martin Alejandro Ruiz-Pimentel, Hector Valencia-Desilagua

Faculty Advisor: Dr. Alejandro Durán-Herrera

2nd place: West Pomeranian University of Technology - Szczecin (Poland)

Students: Weronika Gajdecka, Małgorzata Wanat, Mateusz Sienkiewicz

Faculty Advisor: Prof. Maria Kaszynska

3rd place: University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (Puerto Rico)

Students: Carlos N. Nadal Broche, Josué Laborde Rivera, Nathaniel N. Pellot Rivera, Bryan E. Ruiz Hernández, Jan C. Pérez Frontera, Jaira V. Peña Vélez, Michael G. Ramos Hernández

Faculty Advisor: Arsenio Cáceres

Eco Concrete Competition

This student competition aims to promote the idea of environmental performance in concrete mix design as an important aspect of sustainability. Teams thus have the mission to develop an innovative concrete mixture, which has the lowest possible environmental impacts while maintaining optimal mechanical and durability performances.

1st Place: University of the Philippines – Diliman (Philippines)

Students: Alexis B. Declaro, Angelica Anne F. Munar, Ryan Christopher L. Ramelo, Paulo M. Santos

Faculty Advisors: Christian Orozco, Engr. Justin Jesse Seranilla

2nd Place: Universidad de Cuenca (Ecuador)

Students: Daniela Alvarez, Christian Andrade Herrera, Carla Enderica Ortega, Jessica Bermeo Palacios, Diego Juela Quintuña, Alex Jumbo Araujo, Mauricio Tacuri Sarmiento

Faculty Advisor: Edison Castillo Carchipulla

3rd Place: West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin (Poland)

Students: Katarzyna Wedler, Aleksandra Krzecko, Patryk Zegadlo

Faculty Advisor: Prof. Maria Kaszynska

Winners of the following research-based competitions were also announced at the ACI Convention.

Concrete Construction Competition

1st Place (tie): University of Georgia, College of Engineering (USA)

Students: Sterling Benson, Amanda Gruner, Ryan Horn, and Angela Nguyen

Advisor: Dr. Stephan Durham

Project Manager:  Kevin Childs

1st Place (tie): University of North Carolina, Dept of Engineering Technology and Construction Management (USA)

Students: Joseph O'Campo, Ben Hager, Kenny Wang, and George Poulos

Advisor: Tara Cavalline

Project Manager: Ross Newsome

3rd Place: Auburn University, McWhorter School of Building (USA)

Students: Nick Russell, Briege Donahue, Malcolm Smith, and Matthew Tucker

Advisor: Alan Bugg

Project Manager:  Emily Elia

2018 James Instrument Winner

Title of Paper: Ground Penetrating Radar Data Processing for Concrete Bridge Deck Evaluation

Author: Sepehr Pashoutani, Ph.D. Candidate

School Affiliation: University of Nebraska – Lincoln (USA)

ACI's nationally recognized student competitions give students the opportunity to participate in interesting and educational concrete projects. For more information on ACI’s Student Competitions, please visit concrete.org.