[Image above] Credit: Juan Pablo Gevaudan
ACerS Cements Division hosted its 8th Advances in Cements-Based Materials meeting June 26–28 on the expansive Georgia Institute of Technology campus in the heart of Atlanta, Ga. Highlights from the event included a Student and Young Professional Showcase, poster session, Della Roy Lecture, and a new two-concurrent session format.
Monday’s focus was on the Student and Young Professional Showcase, where students presented their research to audiences of more than 50 in each session. The first day culminated in a student reception and poster session, which provided the opportunity for more than 20 students to present their research and generate active discussions.
Poster session winners
Alexander Brand, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Kai Gong, Princeton University
Abhishek Master, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Azadeh A. Asghari, Missouri University of Science & Technology
Abhishek Master’s winning poster, “Extending benefits of self-consolidating concrete by incorporating synthetic fibers.” Credit: ACerS
After the poster session concluded, attendees headed to the Tech Rec Center on campus for refreshments and activities. This annual event encourages networking among young professionals, students, and researchers.
Tuesday began with two concurrent sessions, one on durability and one on novel and sustainable materials. And judging by the enthusiasm of attendees, the new format was a success!
R. Doug Hooton, keynote speaker. Credit: ACerS
The business meeting encouraged meeting suggestions and comments from attendees. After announcing winners from Monday’s poster session, past Division chair Tyler Ley provided Cements Division updates, including use of ACerS supplemental funding and incoming division leadership.
This year’s YouTube Research Video contest winner was Marisol Tsui Chang of Oregon State University. Her two–minute video clip highlighting her poster, “Using XRF to assess the composition and resistivity of simulated pore solutions,” inspired video entries for 2018.
The Brunauer Best Paper Award is presented to the best refereed paper on cements published during the previous calendar year in the Bulletin or the Journal of the American Ceramic Society. Paulo Monteiro, who was also the Della Roy Lecturer, was presented the Brunauer certificate for his contribution to the 2016 winning paper: Soft X-ray ptychographic imaging and morphological quantification of calcium silicate hydrates (C–S–H), authored by Sungchul Bae, Rae Taylor, David Shapiro, Peter Denes, John Joseph, Rich Celestre, Stefano Marchesini, Howard Padmore, Tolek Tyliszczak, Tony Warwick, David Kilcoyne, Pierre Levitz, and Paulo J. M. Monteiro.
Monteiro, of the University of California, Berkeley, captivated the packed auditorium with his Della Roy Lecture, “Characterization of cementitious materials using X-ray synchrotron radiation: What we know, what we don’t know, and what we want to know.” In his lecture, he summarized the highlights and pitfalls of using this powerful characterization technique. His presentation also described new results on understanding catalytic reactions using in-situ XPS, linking the chemical and mechanical properties of calcium (alumino) silicate hydrate using HP-XRD and characterizing early hydration with high-resolution spectromicroscopy.
Della Roy Lecturer Paulo Monteiro of University of California, Berkeley. Credit: ACerS
Next year’s meeting at Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pa., is sure to continue providing exciting and thought-provoking topics—check ACerS website and the Bulletin for details in early 2018.