Keynote Speaker #1

Wednesday, June 14, 2023 8:30- 9:15 a.m.; Davis Auditorium

Elise Berodier, Business Development and Technical Manager at Freyssinet Switzerland

Title: From the Ground Up: Learning from field data to drive sustainable concrete construction

Elise Berodier is a business development and technical manager at Freyssinet Switzerland. With over 10 years of experience in the field of cement and concrete industry and academia, she has gained a deep understanding of the challenges facing the sector and had worked to develop innovative solutions. She holds a PhD from EPFL under the supervision of Prof. Karen Scrivener in 2015. Since then, she worked in industry and academia in USA and Switzerland, where she developed new solutions for the industry, an area that remains a central focus of her work to this day. Today Elise works at Freyssinet, a leading international construction company where she continues to develop solutions for engineers to repair and maintain infrastructures.

ABSTRACT:

The recent increase in awareness surrounding concrete construction and its impact on the environment has led to an important number of innovations. There is a growing need for the concrete industry to shift towards more sustainable practices. However, while there is a significant amount of research being conducted on low carbon cements, the application of the material in real life scenarios is not receiving the same level of research attention. Part of the problem is the lack of comprehensive data from the field.

This talk provides an analysis of the challenges that the concrete industry is facing based on data collected from the field and how cement and concrete research can address these needs.

Keynote Speaker #2

Thursday, June 15, 2023, 8:30 - 9:15 a.m.; Davis Auditorium

Prannoy Suraneni, Miami Engineering Career Development Assistant Professor in the Civil and Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Miami

Title:Processing and Reactivity of Supplementary Cementitious Materials

Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) are critical for the continued production of sustainable and durable concrete and are key for concrete decarbonization. Due to shortfalls of conventional SCMs in recent years, there is a growing need to rapidly identify and understand the performance of alternative of SCMs. We discuss new reactivity tests to measure SCM reactivity, including the modified R³ test. The reactivity of a large number of alternative SCMs is quantified and described here and the importance of reaction kinetics is highlighted. Synthetic calcium aluminosilicate glasses are important model systems for SCMs, and we discuss their composition-structure-reactivity relationships.  SCM processing and manufactured SCMs have become increasingly critical and are currently being explored by numerous start-ups. An overview of mechanochemical activation and thermal activation of inert materials and the ensuing reactivity is provided.

Industry Talks

Friday, June 16, 2023, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.; Davis Auditorium

Industry leaders will offer their insights and perspectives on how to bridge the gap between research and practice.

Scott Schneider, Co-leader of Thornton Tomasetti’s Structural Engineering Practice.

Scott Schneider is a co-leader of Thornton Tomasetti’s Structural Engineering Practice. He has extensive experience designing and managing complex building projects. Scott’s design flexibility is reflected in his portfolio, which consists of a diverse mix of government, cultural, office, residential, and hospitality work. He has been involved in such notable projects as the 1200 Avenue at Port Imperial luxury condominium complex in Weehawken, New Jersey, the 2-million-square-foot United States Department of Transportation Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago and the U.S. Embassy in London, U.K., as well as several other U.S. embassies and federal buildings. Scott has a strong background in digital design and building information modeling. He uses a range of technologies and approaches throughout all phases of a project, improving coordination and collaboration while keeping on schedule and within budget.

George Perry, Head of Technology with Black Buffalo 3D

George Perry is the Head of Technology with Black Buffalo 3D, a leading supplier of 3D construction solutions. George’s studied Civil Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology, and spent the beginning of his career in structural design and concrete construction.

He spent the next 8 years as the Director of Engineering at Solidia Technologies, a startup focused on scaling synthetic calcium silicate cement. In this role, George led the team responsible for the engineering scale-up of process equipment that managed the carbonation reaction. At Black Buffalo 3D, George manages the technical and operations teams, which are responsible for printer design, material design, and field operations.

 

Matthew D’Ambrosia, PhD, PE, FACI is Principal and Co-Founder of MJ2 Consulting

Matthew D’Ambrosia, PhD, PE, FACI is Principal and Co-Founder of MJ2 Consulting where he specializes in solving difficult problems for the construction industry. Dr. D’Ambrosia has over 20 years of experience in concrete materials behavior and research. His interests include materials optimization for specialized applications, durability-related mechanisms such as volume change and cracking, as well as new approaches for prediction and verification of service life and sustainability. He has expertise with large infrastructure projects throughout the world, such as tall buildings, bridges, highways, dams, and power plants. He is a Licensed Professional Engineer in thirteen states. Dr. D’Ambrosia teaches instructional courses for the industry and is Adjunct Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Northwestern University.  He is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (FACI), where he currently serves as Chair of ACI 562J on Repair Materials and ACI 209C on Creep and Shrinkage, voting member of ACI 318A and numerous other committees.  He is a member of and former Chair of the ACerS Cements Division. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Iowa, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign