ASU ACI Student Club Activities

Alex Bertheau, one of the officers of the student ACI Club was honored at the ACI Convention in Pittsburgh as the third place winner in the 2010 ACI student paper competition. Congratulations Alex! We are pleased to announce that the club has been active in recruiting new students to the program and offer free tutoring during the fall semester. The tutoring includes upper-class students offers free help for students in all CIM courses with a particular focus on students in CIM 205. Upon completion of Grade Level 1 ACI certification, all CIM students are required to assist AZ-ACI as supplemental examiners at one monthly session.

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.

MTSU Concrete Masonry Class Introducted

As the MTSU CIM Program has just introduced its first Concrete Masonry class this fall semester, Dr. Marcus Knight, instructor for that class, and Jon Huddleston attended a NCMA Testing Procedures Course & Certified Concrete Masonry Testing Technician Certification Program at NCMA Headquarters in Herndon, VA in mid-October.

Chico State Students Provide Demonstration of Alcatraz Work at ASCC Conference

The Chico State CIM Summer Field School was represented at the American Society of Concrete Contractor’s National Conference in Salt Lake City at the Decorative Concrete Council’s outdoor display area by CIM Students and Alcatraz Interns Trevor Prater and Bryan James. Shellie Rigsby of Acanthus, Inc., a decorative concrete staining firm in Dallas, and Clark Branam of Scofield served as the student advisors for the project and were the leaders of the decorative aspects of the Field School during summer 2010. In their demonstration, Prater and James created a replica of a staircase they repaired on Alcatraz Island and demonstrated various standard and creative techniques they used on Alcatraz to match the colors and textures of 100-year old, bay-weathered concrete. By preparing the entire demonstration on site the students were able to create a live demonstration throughout the 3-day conference. The repair demonstration strongly correlated with the sustainable theme of ASCC’s Decorative Concrete Council display area, as the nature of both historic concrete repair and the Alcatraz internship requires a focus on concrete durability and restoration rather than demolition by selectively repairing only problem areas and minimizing waste.


The 10-week long Chico State CIM Summer Field School served as an internship for five Chico State CIM students, completing over 2000 hours of cumulative work on the infamous prison grounds and highlighting many unique features the Bachelor of Science Degree encompasses. It was an industry-supported pilot project designed to engage CIM students in managing and performing the evaluation, estimating, repair, and preservation of concrete structures while working outside of the technical parameters of a classroom. The Field School is planned to continue in future summers providing the opportunity for many more CIM students to gain valuable field experience.

“ Seismic Charactererization of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC)”

Today, my PhD student, Amin Jamali, has defended his PhD which is titled “ Seismic Charactererization of Recycled Aggregate Concrete (RAC)”. This hard working and advanced state of the art thesis was described as one of the best at NJIT history. The one and quarter year experimental work that took place at High Performance Concrete laboratory at NJIT was funded by CIM program. Amin wrote in his acknowledgement the following:


“ It is an opportunity to show my appreciation to the Concrete Industry Management program at NJIT for their financial support to this study. “

“I am also very grateful to Jamie M. Gentoso and David White from Sika”. Sika donated the GFRP raps for Amin’s 44 concrete columns

“I am also very grateful to Ricardo Arocha, Roby Roberts, Gilbert Morales, Michael McKendrick, Terry Moony and Bill Hall from Weldon Mistrials”. Weldon Materials donated space, aggregate, cement, and RAC crushing for Amin’s RAC.

“I thank Mr. Allyn Luke for his generous Laboratory support”

Congratulations Dr. Jamali!!! You need a deserving break.

Enjoy the three photos.

Mohamed

NJIT CIM presentation at the Freshman Colloquia resulted in two new CIM students!!!

Today, Monday, Nov 1 at 11:30 am, it was the day of the Freshman Colloquia. Department of Engineering Technology (ET) had about 1 hour to present some of its new programs. Dr. Ron Rockland, the department Chair gave an introduction to ET, followed by brief (10-12 minute) presentations of three new ET program directors (Surveying Engineering technology (SET); Medical Informatics, (IT); and Concrete Industry Management (CIM)). Many of the freshman students did not belong to ET. The freshman have to attend two of the colloquia, and since we were almost the last ones, we had some who did not attend the other colloquia. I was excited presenting the CIM program as usual. The CIM presentation paid off. Two new students have joined our program and they finished their paper work today. Congratulations!! Enjoy the photos!!!




Mohamed Mahgoub

CIM Students Attend ACI and ICRI Conferences in Pittsburgh

CIM students and faculty attended the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) conferences during October in Pittsburgh, Pa.

During the ACI Conference, the students competed along with 25 other teams from all over the United States in the Student Egg Protection Device Competition and finished in sixth place overall! The students also attended the ACI Concrete Sustainability Forum and enjoyed listening to presentations about the latest concrete sustainability measurements in China, India, Korea, and Brazil. One of the presentations was the MIT joint research with NRCMA and PCA of Life Cycle Assessment of Pavements which provided the students with useful information regarding concrete sustainability.

During the ICRI conference the students attending technical presentations about bridge concrete repair and how to overcome reinforcement corrosion problems. The students enjoyed networking, attending technical sessions, and attending the awards banquet. The CIM students presence was acknowledged by the ICRI President, Chuck Knight.