Hosted by: ACerS Washington DC/Maryland/Virginia Section
Wednesday, March 20, 2024; 12p.m. – 1p.m. Eastern US time
Sponsored by the ACerS Washington DC/Maryland/Virginia Section, the March webinar will feature two speakers: FHWA’s Concrete Materials Research: Motivations and Ongoing Efforts
DESCRIPTION
FHWA’s Concrete Materials Research: Motivations and Ongoing Efforts
The concrete industry has experienced an unparalleled level of innovation in recent years and is on the precipice of historical changes for the construction community. Decades of promoting the use of performance-based requirements instead of prescriptive materials requirements have set the stage for introducing novel materials that enhance concrete’s sustainability and durability. With materials availability limitations, increasing efforts to reduce embodied carbon emissions of construction materials, and the need to increase infrastructure service life, the concrete industry, which is notorious for its resistance to innovate, is experiencing change at a more rapid pace than ever before. This presentation will introduce and discuss these motivations for current research efforts on concrete materials. Projects originating from these motivations are ongoing at the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center Concrete Laboratory. These recent concrete materials projects in the evaluation of novel materials and promotion of sustainability will be identified and explored.
BIOGRAPHIES
Ms. Michelle Cooper, Concrete Materials Research Engineer, Federal Highway Administration’s Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center
Ms. Michelle Cooper is the Federal Manager of the Concrete Infrastructure Materials Laboratory and is a Concrete Materials Research Engineer at the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center. Prior to working at FHWA, she received her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech and Master of Science in Civil Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.
During that time, she interned at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s inorganic materials laboratory and at the FHWA Concrete lab. She then worked as a forensic structural engineer. Michelle has published research in the areas of portland limestone cement, concrete durability, concrete sustainability, and concrete bonding. Michelle is also currently working on her PhD at Michigan Tech in concrete sustainability.
Ms. Erin Stewartson, Civil Engineering Pathways Intern, Federal Highway Administration’s Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center
Ms. Erin Stewartson is a Civil Engineering Pathways Intern in the Concrete Infrastructure Materials Laboratory at the Federal Highway Administration’s Turner Fairbank Highway Research Center. Prior to her time at FHWA, she earned her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from The University of Maryland, College Park. She is currently pursuing her master’s and Ph.D. of Civil Engineering at The Ohio State University while actively contributing to FHWA through her internship.
During her prior graduate studies, Erin participated in research funded by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. The research aimed to investigate the behavior of unconventional supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), providing recommendations for specification revisions to enhance concrete sustainability. At FHWA, Erin investigates the impact of carbon enriched SCMs on concrete durability.
REGISTRATION
Registration is now closed. If you missed the webinar, ACerS members may view it in the ACerS Webinar Archives. Member log-in required.
If you have any questions, please contact Vicki Evans.
This webinar is brought to you by the ACerS Washington DC/Maryland/Virginia Section.
To view past ACerS webinars, click here.