TSU CIM Students Participate in Pervious Concrete Competition

At the October 2013 ACI Fall Convention in Phoenix, CIM students James McNeill, Eric Adams, Cody Houser, Marcus Flores and Amy Ramos represented Texas State in the Pervious Concrete Competition.

Teams were challenged to apply sustainability concepts and to use their knowledge of concrete mixture design by producing pervious concrete which balances permeability and splitting tensile strength. Teams are additionally challenged to develop a mixture design which develops the highest load-to-cost ratio. A report that documents the team's cylinder production process and preliminary results is also scored. In order to qualify for cost analysis, a team's specimens must meet a minimum threshold permeability, as is true with placements in the construction industry.

TSU ACI Student Chapter Elects New Officers

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) is a  technical and educational society organized in 1904 to develop, share, and disseminate the knowledge and information needed to utilize concrete to its fullest potential. The ACI Student Chapter at Texas State University- San Marcos strengthens this link between ACI, The Concrete Industry Management Program (CIM) and the entire Texas Concrete Industry. The Chapter offers many opportunities to students such as meeting with leaders in the industry, attending seminars, visit sites, participate in ACI competitions, and networking with other professional societies at Texas State University. The officers for 2013-2014 include:

 

-Justin Dickey, President

-Alex LaButis, Vice President

-James McNeil, Treasurer

-Santos Verdin, Secretary

-Paul Skogen, Appointments

Dr. Anthony Torres JoinsTSU CIM Faculty

After a national search for a full-time faculty at the assistant professor level, Texas State University is pleased to announce the hiring of the

third CIM program faculty member. Dr. Anthony Torres, a graduate of the University of New Mexico with  Ph.D in civil engineering, joined the Texas State CIM program beginning fall semester. Dr. Torres has experience working for and managing his family's construction welding business. Welcome Dr. Torres.

Texas State Graduates First CIM Students

In September of 2008, the Concrete Industry Management (CIM) program announced the addition of CIM to the curriculum of Texas State University in San Marcos, beginning in spring 2009.

TSU is thrilled to announce that on December 16, 2011, our first group of CIM students graduated from this unique program! We wish to congratulate Charles Carter, Griffin Taylor, Christopher Traina and Travis Mouser and wish them well in their future endeavors.

Texas State CIM Research Projects Funded

We are pleased to announce several new research projects for the TSU-CIM program. These projects are as follows: Optimizing Concrete Pavement Type Selection Based on Aggregate Availability (contract amount $170,000) - Timeframe: September 2011 - August 2012 Cost Effectiveness of Extradosed Bridges (contract amount $49,984) Timeframe: September 2011 - August 2012 Costs Associated with Conversion of Surfaced Roads to Un-surfaced Roads (contract amount $118,112) - Timeframe: September 2011 - August 2012 Investigation of Acoustic Characteristics of Car Cabin for the Development of Nonwoven Fabrics as a Car Interior Material (contract amount $30,000) - Timeframe: August 2011 - December 2011 Since the summer of 2009, Texas State University CIM faculty members have received five TxDOT contracts totaling $640,584!

Texas State ACI Student Chapter Activities

On September 14, the ACI student chapter at Texas State University elected new officers. The officers are as follows: President: Chase David Vice President: Chase Copenhaver Secretary: Daniel Calhoun Treasurer: Dirk Franz The chapter will be busy this fall. Two industrial guest speakers and two site visits have been planned by the Texas State ACI student chapter for this semester and the chapter is also working closely with Texas State Construction Student Association (CSA) planning and facilitating other events including tailgating and communication services.

Texas State CIM 4340 Class Summer Activities

Over the summer, the CIM 4340 class hosted a student competition on "Field Hunting of Concrete Distresses." After field hunting within and outside of the Texas State campus, the four participating groups of students presented their observations. Four CIM faculty members served as judges for the competition. CIM 4340 also hosted a "Concrete Problems" poster competition in June. Eleven posters were included in the competition and more than 10 industry guests, patrons, and Texas State faculty members served as judges.

TSU Students Receive ACI Scholarships

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) chapters in Central Texas and San Antonio were very generous to the CIM students. During their meetings in December, Texas State CIM students were presented scholarships from both organizations. Daniel Calhoun, Garrett McSpadden, and Zuho Wang each received $1,000 scholarships from the ACI Central Texas Chapter and Travis Mouser, Griffin Taylor and Charles Carter were each presented scholarships from the ACI San Antonio Chapter.


Texas State University Assistant Professor Jiong Hu also accepted a check for $3,000 from Joe Dan Johnson, ACI Central Texas Past President 2010, which was donated to the CIM program.

Thank you ACI for your continued program support!

Faculty Profile- Jiong Hu, Texas State

Jiong Hu, Assistant Professor - Texas State University-San Marcos


This month, we chose to highlight CIM faculty member Jiong Hu . We asked him a few questions about his experiences with the CIM Program.

What interesting projects have your students been involved with during this last school year?

In this last year, I have CIM students involved in one externally funded project (Evaluation, Presentation and Repair of Microbial Acid-Produced Attack of Concrete) and two internally funded projects (Use of Waste Clay Brick as Cement Additive in Concrete: Feasibility Study in the State of Texas and Self-compacting Concrete Using Recycled Concrete Aggregate). The projects offer CIM majors valuable experience as research assistants involved in real-life projects, as well as the use of state-of-the-art research facilities.

Why should incoming students consider CIM as a major course of study?

CIM is a unique program with emphasis on both concrete technology and management. Students will have great "hands-on" experiences through participation in a variety of laboratory activities and "real life" experience with a series of industry-related activities. With their very unique skill set, CIM students have excellent employment opportunities upon graduation.

Can you describe the different career paths that graduates of the CIM program can take?

With strong skill sets in concrete technology, construction management and business administration, the CIM program prepares professionals in either management or technical positions in concrete-related industries.

What is unique about the graduates of the CIM program?

The CIM program addresses the needs of the modern concrete industry. The program produces "industry prepared" students with "real world" experiences grounded in the basics of concrete's production techniques and its use in a multitude of construction applications.

What are your thoughts about the industry/academic partnership between CIM and its industry partners?

The industry-patented academic degree program represents a very unique academia/industry partnership at national and local levels. The NSC provides funding and oversight direction for each program and local patrons provide opportunities to engage the local concrete industry in advancing and growing the CIM program.

Why should companies in the concrete industry get involved in the CIM program?

CIM is a practice-oriented degree with strong industrial focus, built on the strong relationship between industry and academia. The program needs heavy involvement from local industry such as guest lectures and field trips to provide students with "real life" experience. A strong connection between industry and students is also needed through different social activities.

TSU CIM Students Receive Second Place in ACI Competition

Five CIM students participated in the ACI Egg Protection Device Competition in the ACI Fall 2010 Convention at Pittsburgh, PA. The objective of this contest is to build a small concrete frame that has the highest-impact-load resistance, and to promote a sustainable use of concrete. Texas State CIM majors Chris Traina, Travis Mouser, Griffin Taylor, Charles Carter and Chase Copenhaver, who worked under the supervision of Dr. Cristian Gaedicke, explored how the strategies used in the design and construction of their Egg Protection Device (EPD) could be applied to broader applications of concrete in sustainable development. In order to promote the positive social, economic, and environmental impacts of concrete, the students used 50% recycled aggregate and Class C fly ash in their mix. Their work received 2nd place in the sustainability ategory. More than ten teams from different universities in the United States and overseas participated in this competition.