Our April meeting will start with a brief presentation from 2023 Scholarship Recipient, Joe Grout.  

Joe Grout is a sophomore in the CIM program at Texas State University. He spent last summer interning with the Air Force Research Laboratory where he got to work with concrete 3D printing. He was fully trained to operate the 3D printer and was given the opportunity to run an experiment of his own. He will be telling us about his work with support materials and how they could reduce the need for buildability in 3D-printed concrete mix design.

Jim Render is a consultant with E5 Incorporated. He is a graduate civil engineer from Auburn University and has worked his entire career in the concrete industry. He has worked in the ready mix, admixture and cement industries for 37 years. He has been a consultant for E5 the last 8 years.

Title: Nano Silica In Concrete

Concrete is one of the last industries to employ the innovation that comes with nano technology. We will explore the applications in ready mix concrete and paving that are sweeping the country. The first application is nano silica in concrete to internally cure the concrete from the inside out. Already adopted in several states (Indiana & Ohio) this technology is reducing bridge deck cracking while accelerating construction schedules. The second technology is nano silica used as a pozzolan, a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) that has been used to replace cement, fly ash, silica fume and slag in mixes with less issues in retardation and finishing.