Arizona State University

Recent Events at ASU

The Southwestern Patrons held their Fall planning meeting in October where 17 ASU CIM students received Scholastic Achievement Scholarships totaling $19,500 in awards.

The ACI-ASU Student Chapter, run by CIM students, participated in ASU’s Homecoming parade for the second time. Their float was sponsored by CEMEX and pulled by a concrete mixer truck. It was the hit of the parade!

The Junior and Senior CIM students have been busy taking various worksite and plant tours all semester. Their visits have included US Precast in Phoenix, Arizona Portland Cement in Rillito, CEMEX Plant in Scottsdale and a local high-rise jobsite.

US Precast Mixture Design Research

After making a site visit for the CIM305 Concrete Production course to the US Precast Operation in Phoenix, the ASU CIM program is discussing a potential collaboration with US Precast, where CIM students will perform both wet and dry sample concrete mixtures and test results. The hope is that we can help improve US Precast's product if the results of our test mixtures are desirable.

ACI Certification Assistance

The students in the CIM106 Fundamentals of Concrete course take the Grade I Concrete Field Testing Certification as part of the curriculum. Eight students successfully received certification this semester. Once the students are certified they are available to assist as supplemental examiners for classes taught through the Arizona Chapter of ACI when the monthly courses are offered to industry.

Faculty Research

Professor Luke Snell has been heading up the following projects:

• Vibration procedures for precast concrete: Development of a training program for new employees that shows the importance of proper vibration procedures for concrete. This company has lost several thousands of dollars on rejected pre-stressed beams and has asked us to help them improve their placement procedures.
• Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC): Determination of the effective R value for AAC for use in Ohio. Research involves a detailed literature review of several research studies and determining how to apply this information to a specific area.
• Floor topping failures: Evaluation of several floor topping failures that have occurred across North America. This includes an evaluation of the materials used, training that the employees receive, preparation of the floors that are to receive a topping and techniques used to install the toppings.
• Prevention of Plastic Shrinkage Cracks: Evaluation of hand-held equipment that can be used to predict field conditions that will cause plastic shrinkage cracks in fresh concrete. Research has resulted in presentations that have been given worldwide.
• Computer program to evaluate acceptance of concrete test results: This program is a development to meet the new ACI-Design code for 4X8 Cylinders. The program evaluates the test results, the testing laboratory and the individual technician.
  

California State University - Chico

Chico State Announces First CIM Graduates

Chico State will have its first 13 graduates this Spring and has 50 declared CIM majors.

Komas Named New Director of CIM Program

Tanya Wattenburg Komas, Ph.D., has become the new Director of the Chico State program. Dr. Komas has been a full-time tenure-track faculty member in the CIM program from the onset and is looking forward to building upon the success of the program, as well as helping to build an increased level of partnership among all CIM schools.

Interns Attend Fall Patron Meeting

Chico State had 17 interns in the field last summer in locations ranging from Northern and Southern California to Seattle, Denver and Washington D.C. Twelve of those interns earned university credit for their experiences. Those students gave presentations on their internship experiences to the Chico State patrons and a few NSC members at the fall patron meeting. Patrons and faculty evaluated the internship presentations using a rubric that scored the experiences in several categories, including quality of the material and images in the PowerPoint, success of the student presentation of the material, the degree to which the expected learning objectives that were established by each individual student prior to the internship were met and student contributions to their own learning experience. Greg Mercurio, a senior in the program, won with the highest ranking and moved on to present his internship at "ConcreteWorks," the conference of the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association held in mid-October.

Decorative Concrete Class Offered at Chico State

Chico State is currently offering an elective Decorative Concrete class that has had tremendous interest and participation from enrolled students, other students from around campus, Chico State Facilities Management leaders, staff, union employees and the local concrete industry. The course is comprised of a detailed lecture and lab curriculum that covers all aspects of the decorative concrete industry, including building a decorative concrete business, integral color, staining, sealing, overlays, countertops, grinding and polishing, vertical applications and specifications and refereed field mock-ups. Clark Branam, a recognized expert in the decorative concrete industry, is partnering on the curriculum development and regularly travels from Seattle to deliver lectures and participate in the lab sessions.

An ongoing project for the class is a 400-square-foot, integrally-colored slab on the Chico State campus that includes the application of a hand-thrown color hardener to impart subtle modeling of the color followed by stamping with a natural stone stamping mat. In an upcoming lab session, the students will saw-cut the slab to resemble large stone blocks and hand stain the "stones" using several colors of acid stains. In two succeeding labs, the students will seal the slab and then come back with a custom stencil and sand-blast the university logo into the concrete. The logo will then be stained using vibrant university colors and a final sealer applied.

In addition to the decorative concrete elective course, CSU Chico is continuing to develop its “Sustainability in the Built Environment: The Role of Concrete” course as well as the “Concrete Evaluation and Repair” lecture/lab course. In conjunction with the latter course, the program is planning a potential summer 2009 trip back to Normandy for a continuation of the non-destructive testing of the WWII bunkers at Pointe du Hoc.

Middle Tennessee State University

MTSU's CIM Program Announces Involvement in Five Research Projects

The students from the CIM program at MTSU have announced five research projects that are designed to benefit the industry as well as provide valuable experience for the students.

The following projects are currently underway at MTSU:

• Collaborative project with five other labs across the United States to determine the best way to consolidate and cast cylindrical specimens for pervious cement
• Comparison of new fiber with existing market fibers to determine viability of the fiber to prevent plastic shrinkage cracking
• Investigation of a new liquid admixture that could be used to enhance workability, set time and cement replacement for pervious concrete mixes
• Review of the pull-out strength of rebar in high-strength lightweight concrete with local precast plants and Stalite, Inc.
• Two industry literature searches: 1) compilation of all pervious concrete research that has been done to date, and 2) compilation of all papers that reference the comparison of fiber reinforced concrete vs. welded wire fabric and how well it performs
  

For these projects, the faculty at MTSU serves as mentors and trains the students to use equipment they might not have used before. MTSU also has a CIM 4200 course that focuses on student research, writing technical reports and developing research presentations. According to Heather J. Brown, Director and Associate Professor of the CIM Program at MTSU, nearly every project they undertake has an industry contact and purpose.

“We choose to do projects that are needed by the industry in the short-term because we can get fast turn-around and utilize undergraduates that we have for only 4 to 6 months at a time,” said Brown. “We feel that the ability to write technical reports, work in a lab environment, be introduced to high tech equipment, work both in teams and solo and being able to convey results and recommendations to the industry are powerful tools that will serve the students well in their career.”

According to Michael Nelson, CIM graduate and current MBA graduate student, “Doing research with the CIM program provides me an opportunity to get valuable ‘hands-on’ experience through experimenting with new ideas that will pave the way for future concrete projects.”

Elijah Floyd, a senior in the CIM program notes, “I’m happy to have contributed to research which will benefit the development of standards that affect the concrete industry as I hope to work in concrete management in the near future.”

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Meet NJIT's New CIM Leadership Team

NJIT is pleased to introduce its new CIM leadership team consisting of – Ron Rockland and John Wiggins.

Ron Rockland was appointed in May 2008 as the interim chair of the Engineering Technology Department – home to the NJIT CIM program. Ron replaces Bob English who was appointed as the Interim Dean for the School of Management. He has served as a professor in the Engineering Technology Department and as Associate Dean for the Newark College of Engineering heading up recruitment for the College. His leadership and student marketing skills will be a true asset to the program.

John Wiggins was appointed as coordinator of the CIM program to help with the recruitment and advisement of students and provide the overall direction of the CIM program. He is a licensed professional engineer and attorney with more than 35 years of professional experience in civil and construction engineering. Additionally, John has served as the Program Coordinator for the Construction Engineering and Construction Management Technology programs, fostering strong relationships with these industries. Further, John has been involved in the CIM program from the onset of the original discussions concerning the program and co-authored the current CIM curriculum. His position is a natural evolution, and he is the perfect choice to grow this program.

NE CIM Patrons Upgrade NJIT Concrete Lab

Thanks to the tireless efforts of NE CIM patrons, NJIT received funding to upgrade its Concrete Lab to benefit CIM students in their courses in Concrete Design and ACI Certification.

The NJIT Concrete Lab is divided into three sections. The first section was upgraded by the CIM Program, comprising 3,000 square feet for studying the basics of concrete materials, properties and testing. The second section is comprised of 1,800 square feet for advanced concrete testing. A third 3,500-square-foot structures laboratory is available for large-scale structural testing of concrete elements.

Facilities are provided to teach students all the fundamental ASTM testing necessary to implement ACI 211 concrete design. Two 400,000-pound standard concrete cylinder testing machines are used to test for the modulus of elasticity and the splitting tensile, as well as the compressive strength of concrete. Preparations for ACI Field Technician Level I Certification are also promoted.

The space presents the modern, high-tech nature of concrete. Freeform, integrally-colored work benches and thin-overlay floors comfortably disperse up to thirty students throughout the laboratory space, showing concrete doing things no other materials can do. Warm colors and high-tech gadgets invite people to come into the space, turn the dials, break concrete and see that there is more to concrete than just rocks! These facilities, which have been used over the years to support NJIT Civil Engineering PhD- and Masters-level concrete research are available to CIM students.

Thanks to the CIM Patrons for ensuring that CIM Students have access to such a state-of-the-art concrete laboratory!

CIM Patrons Meet in Philadelphia

More than 25 Patrons attended the Fall CIM meeting in Philadelphia. The meeting included CIM National Steering Committee Executive Officers and CIM Executive Director Dave Vickers, as well as NJIT Staff. Patron representatives were present from the following companies: BASF, Chaney Enterprises, CPK Industry Cons, Eastern Concrete, Essroc Cement, Grace Construction Products, Holcim Lafarge, New Jersey Concrete and Aggregate Association, Pioneer Concrete, Sika, Silvi Concrete, Titan America and US Concrete. Attending Patrons meetings is a great way to learn the latest developments in the program and reconnect with colleagues.

Texas State University - San Marcos

CIM Program Approved

On October 15, 2008, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved Texas State University-San Marcos’ proposal to create a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Concrete Industry Management. The date of implementation for this program is January 1, 2009. Texas State is also currently working on the design of the concrete testing laboratory to include the layout and equipment list. National searches are on-going for the hiring of two tenure track faculty members in Concrete Industry Management. Of these two, one will serve as the Program Director.