Thirty teams of students from around the world presented their research and ideas via video during the spring ACI convention. Countries represented ranged from Lebanon to India to South and North America. Topics for the student videos include pervious concrete, recycled concrete aggregate, 3D printing, Papercrete, antibacterial concrete, nanotechnology, glass aggregate, and more. The quality and professionalism of the videos is remarkable.

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) Committee S801, Student Competitions sponsored the event. This committee stages concrete competitions throughout the year and during ACI conferences. The committee's mission is to develop, guide, and execute competitions that offer students of any discipline exposure to concrete and concrete technologies. Student competitions have proven to be a fun and exciting way to encourage a life-long love and engagement with concrete as a building material and means to improve the world.

"The goal of the committee is to promote collaboration and support for regional concrete competitions around the world hosted by local chapters and international partners," explains Samhar Hoz, structural engineer and chair of ACI committee S801. She works in Codes and Standards Development in the International Code Council (ICC). Samhar is also secretary of the IBC Building-Fire Safety Committee, and of the ICC Residential Seismic Assessment & Retrofit Standard Consensus Committee.

“We hosted a competition during the ACI March 2021 Concrete Convention,” she says. “The objective was for teams to demonstrate and explain how their use of concrete could positively impact the world at large. We encouraged the teams to use creative means to present and explain their concrete approach or solution to a broad audience, including why it should interest the public. Each team submitted a seven-minute video before the convention and were later interviewed by a panel of judges.”

The submissions that were received are very creative and have good strategies to advance the concrete industry. The complete list of video submissions is available to view at S 2021 Concrete Solutions.

Here are the winners:

OVERALL EXCELLENCE

1st Place: Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Ecuador; Translucent Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Masonry Units; Students: Lucia Moya, Diego Camacho, Daniel Cepeda, Holbeein Velásquez, Daniel Burbano, Rubén Sanbando, Jacoba Ubidia; Advisor: Milagros Izel Jimenez Lituma

2nd Place: Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU1), Philippines; Bendable Concrete; Students: Kalveen John V. Bondad, Rona Mikaela M. Dela Torre, Marydel Rose M. Frias, John Cris C. Aquino, Hanz Andrei C. Siasat, Acel Joy S. Reyes, Arilyn P. Balmaceda, Abigail Pineda; Advisor: Gil Cruz Jr.

3rd Place: Chittagong University of Engineering & Technology (CUETX), Bnagladesh; Recycled Geopolymer Concrete; Students: Lamia Islam Leeya, Aneeca Farzana, Tahsin Mahmud, Safkat Ar Rumman, Md Mosaddek Hameem, Israt Jahan, Md. Mahtab Ishmum, Mumtahina Alam; Advisor: G M Sadiqul Islam

MOST INNOVATIVE DESIGN/DEVELOPMENTAL USE OF CONCRETE

1st Place: NED University of Engineering & Technology (NEDIA), P{akistan; Sugarcane Bagasse Ash; Students: Alyina Hashmi, Talha Bhutto, Muddasir Rehman Khuhro, Sadia Ajmal, Muneeb Ahmad, Ammar Siddiqi, Faiza Hassan; Advisor: Dr. Shamsoon Fareed

2nd Place: University of Balamand (UOB21), Lebanon; Recycled Concrete Aggregate; Students: Gaby Dawra, Lara Abdulkhalek, Ziad Moubayed, Carla Hamdan, Ghayth Nasr, Rawan Ghanem; Advisor: Dr. Nariman Khalil

3rd Place: University of Florida (CRCKD), U.S.; Concrete Buoys; Students: Jennifer Underhill, Joseph Atwater, Madeleine Murphree, Erik Huang, Jackson Carcaba, Wes Brakman, Gabriela Calana; Advisor: Dr. Chris Ferraro