ACI rewards innovation in concrete at two awards ceremonies

by Carly Midgley | November 14, 2016 10:00 am

Palazzo Italia, an Italian pavilion project, won the Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards’ highest honor—the Excellence Award—this year for its innovative use of photocatalytic cement panels. Image courtesy ACI Italy Chapter — Palazzo Italia, an Italian pavilion project, won the Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards’ highest honor—the Excellence Award—this year for its innovative use of photocatalytic cement panels.
*Image courtesy ACI Italy Chapter*

The American Concrete Institute (ACI) held two awards ceremonies at the Concrete Convention and Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, last month.

Arthur J. Boase Award
This award, intended to honor exceptional achievements in the field of reinforced concrete, went to Dominic J. Kelly, FACI, a principal at Simpson Gumpertz & Hager (SGH). He earned this award for his major research on steel reinforcing bar manufacturing and design practices, which supported updating of the reinforced concrete building code.

Robert E. Philleo Award
Presented by the ACI Foundation Research Council, the Robert E. Philleo Award was awarded to Jan Olek, FACI, professor of civil engineering at Purdue University. This win was attributed to Olek’s efforts to advance concrete material science and apply research findings to actual concrete infrastructure applications, along with his work training and mentoring concrete researchers and scientists.

Jean-Claude Roumain Innovation in Concrete Award
Established in 2010, the Jean-Claude Roumain Innovation in Concrete Award went to Gaurav N. Sant, associate professor and Henry Samueli Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Also a member at the California Nanosystems Institute at UCLA, Sant earned this award for his work developing a carbon dioxide (CO₂)-neutral cement. Other factors included his commitment to understanding how mineral fillers and supplementary cementing materials (SCMs) influence cement hydration rates, and to developing methods for predicting these effects.

ACI Young Professional Essay Contest Award
Dan Gancarz, project engineer at Applied Research Associates, won this year’s ACI Young Professional Essay Contest Award for his piece titled “The Benefits of ACI for Young Professionals.” This award can only be given to those who have been in the industry for less than eight years, not counting time spent in school. For 2016, the contest required applicant essays to answer the question[1]: “How have you been engaged with ACI, and how has it given you an edge in the workplace?”

Many projects received accolades from the Excellence Awards’ other categories, such as The Ring of Memory memorial in Paris, which took first in infrastructure. Image courtesy ACI Paris Chapter — Many projects received accolades from the Excellence Awards’ other categories, such as The Ring of Memory memorial in Paris, which took first in infrastructure.
*Image courtesy ACI Paris Chapter*

2016 Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards
The second of the two awards ceremonies was held to announce the 2016 winners of the Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards, with first- and second-place winners in all categories except for the highest, the Excellence Award.

These awards are intended to honor creative project vision, as well as recognizing concrete innovation and excellence worldwide. To be eligible, however, entrants must first win at the local ACI chapter level, then be submitted either by that chapter or by one of ACI’s International Partners. Criteria for judging include architectural and engineering merit, creativity, innovation in construction techniques/use of materials, sustainability, and functionality.

The Excellence Award for 2016 was awarded to Palazzo Italia (Italian Pavilion Expo 2015) in Milan. Submitted by the ACI Italy Chapter, this structure echoes the aesthetic style of a thick forest with the branch shapes featured in its design. Additionally, the building’s exterior—and part of the interior—is made of cement panels with photocatalytic properties.

In direct sunlight, an active ‘ingredient’ in the panel material captures certain pollutants and converts them into inert salts, a process which can purify smog. The material also possesses fluid qualities, which allow it to be used to form complex shapes.

Other categories and winners for the Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards include:

repair and resoration, with first place awarded to The Strand, American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, California, and second place to F.E. Weymouth Water Treatment Plant’s filter buildings’ seismic upgrades in La Verne, California;
flatwork, with first place awarded to Brisbane West Wellcamp Airport’s (BWWA’s) earth-friendly concrete (EFC) geopolymer pavements in Wellcamp, Queensland, Australia;
decorative concrete, with first place awarded to Palazzo Italia and second place to Stealth—a sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia;
low-rise buildings, with first place awarded to Museo Internacional del Barroco in Puebla, Mexico, and second place to Frost Museum of Science in Miami, Florida;
high-rise buildings, with first place awarded to Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU in Richmond, Virginia, and second place to McCord Hall at Arizona State University (ASU) W.P. Corey School of Business in Tempe, Arizona, with additional second-place winner Viktoria, an apartment tower in Seattle, Washington; and
infrastructure, with first place awarded to the ‘Ring of Memory’ International Memorial of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette in Ablain-Saint-Nazaire, Paris, France, and second place to 3^rd Bosphorus Project in Istanbul, Turkey.

Submissions for the 2017 Excellence in Concrete Construction Awards are now open, and must be in by April 3.

Endnotes:

question: https://www.concrete.org/Portals/0/Files/PDF/Young_Professionals_Essay_Contest_Application.pdf

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