[Image above] Attendees of the 16th Advances in Cement-Based Materials at the University of Miami. Credit: ACerS
The American Ceramic Society’s Cements Division hosted the 16th Advances in Cement-Based Materials meeting from June 10–12, 2026, at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla. The meeting welcomed almost 200 attendees.
Before the conference officially started on Wednesday, attendees gathered at Unseen Creatures Brewery & Blending on Tuesday evening for socializing and hor d’oeuvres.
Members enjoyed hor d’oeuvres and socializing at Unseen Creatures Brewery & Blending Credit: ACerS
Wednesday’s program opened with a presentation by keynote speaker Sriramya Nari, assistant professor in the school of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University, titled “Cement chemistry under extremes: Phase evolution and long-term performance.” Her lecture was followed by breakout sessions that covered topics such as sustainability, artificial intelligence, and modeling techniques.
The Division’s business meeting followed these morning sessions. Division Chair Alex Brand presided over the meeting, which included updates on Division membership, meeting statistics, and newly inducted ACerS Fellows from the Cements Division.
Brand also announced the 2026 Brunauer Best Paper Award, which recognizes the best cements paper published during the previous calendar year in the Bulletin or Journal of the American Ceramic Society. This year’s winning paper was “Can domain knowledge benefit machine learning for concrete property prediction?” by Zhanzhao Li et al., published in JACerS. Additionally, the Division’s Early Career Award was presented to Warda Ashraf of The University of Texas at Arlington and Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Cements Division Chair Alex Brand (left) and Cements Division Chair-elect Kendra Erk (right) present the 2026 Brunauer Award to Zhanzhao Li (center). Credit: ACerS
Cements Division Chair Alex Brand (left) and Cements Meeting host Prannoy Suraneni (right) present the 2026 Early Career Award to Elena Tajuelo Rodrizuez. Denise Silva (center) received the award on her behalf. Credit: ACerS
Breakout sessions continued after the business meeting, with topics including concrete durability, cement chemistry, bio-inspired cementitious materials, and material characterization techniques.
Later that afternoon, Robert J. Flatt of ETH Zürich presented the Della Roy Lecture on “Lessons from chemistry in cement research.” Flatt’s lecture was followed by the Della Roy Reception and poster session, sponsored by Elsevier. More than 50 presenters shared their research during the session.
At the conclusion of the Della Roy Reception and poster session, attendees visited the Titan Innovation Hub. The facility brings together customers, suppliers, universities, startups, and public agencies with Titan America experts to accelerate the development and scale-up of advanced materials, digital technologies, and construction solutions.
Robert J. Flatt delivers the 2026 Della Roy Lecture. Credit: ACerS
Thursday morning began with a presentation by keynote speaker Evelien Martens, director of research and development at Terra CO2 Technology, titled “Terra CO2 Technology: Production of low-carbon engineered cementitious materials through vitrification.” Her lecture was followed by additional breakout sessions, and then attendees had several choices: either tour the University of Miami’s campus and labs, present their research in a second poster session, or attend a discussion led by Lesley Sneed about the National Science Foundation.
Thursday ended with a membership engagement event, which involved a sunset boat ride off the coast of Miami’s shores. Guests boarded the Biscayne Lady Yacht for their chartered cruise around the bay, which provided ample time to socialize and enjoy the ocean view.
Friday’s sessions began with an industry speed dating event, including several meeting sponsors. Attendees met with several company representatives to discuss collaborations, internships, job opportunities, and other economic and workforce development activities. The final break-out sessions of the conference followed.
Students present their research during the poster session on Wednesday. Credit: ACerS
The University of Miami mascot, Sebastian the Ibis, listens as a student shares their research. Credit: ACerS
The closing awards ceremony announced the poster session winners, who are listed below.
- First place: Yierfan Maierdan, Columbia University, “Tuning clay self-assembly for 3D-printing of bio-stabilized earthen construction materials”
- Second place: Kylee Rux, University of Miami, “Engineering sustainable concrete for improved coral settlement on artificial reefs”
- Third place: Qiyao He, Rice University, “Molecular dynamics simulations of ionic transport in low-CO2 cement: Impact of solution chemistry and nano-pore confinement”
The ACerS Conference Mentor Program was also held at Cements 2026. The program aims to connect first-time conference attendees with experienced individuals who have frequently attended past ACerS events. There were 50 total participants in the program at Cements 2026, and one participant reported that the program was “an enjoyable experience.”
Participants in the ACerS Conference Mentor Program at Cements 2026. Credit: ACerS
The meeting concluded with the announcement of the 2027 meeting location, which will be Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va.
View more photos from the event on ACerS Flickr page. Check the ACerS website and the ACerS Bulletin in early 2027 for details about the 17th Advances in Cement-Based Materials meeting date and abstract submission deadline.
