PCA Education Foundation Research
Fellowship Program
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Fellowship Program 2010 Call for
Nominations The Portland Cement Association
Education Foundation funds a wide variety of educational activities
that will increase public knowledge regarding appropriate uses of
cement and concrete. Within that global purpose is a specific purpose
to:
Advance general scientific understanding of cement and concrete
by providing scholarships, fellowships, grants, and other support
for the study of engineering and the physical sciences relating
to the production and use of cement and concrete.
The support provided by the Education Foundation is
used to identify and attract outstanding candidates in the field
of engineering and the physical sciences and provide them with the
necessary support to complete their studies. Additionally, this
support is intended to provide them an opportunity for productive
work in the cement and concrete industries.
The fellowships are open to any student, in the US and Canada,
completing studies toward a masters or doctoral degree from an institution
of higher education within Canada or the United States that is accredited
by a regional or national agency. The applicant must pursue graduate
study in an engineering, science, material science, or architectural
program. Each fellowship includes a $20,000 stipend paid to the
university to cover tuition, residence, research materials, equipment,
study materials, related educational expenses, and does not include
payment for institutional overhead.
For this current fellowship competition, proposals in the following
subject areas, with no priority, are of interest:
Cement Manufacturing
- Development of a best practices guide for use of Computational
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) within the cement plant
- Development of a new laboratory grinding mill for laboratory
fine grinding
- Potential CO2 reduction methods
- Emission reduction technologies for THC and CO
- Inherent trade-offs between expert combustion control and SNCR/SCR
technologies
- Techniques to reduce burning zone temperatures within the rotary
cement kiln
Concrete Technology
- Rapid/improved concrete durability tests
- Innovative tests to predict concrete performance
- Improvements to self consolidating concrete technology
- Improvements to pervious concrete technology
Residential
- Structural innovations and energy efficient technologies for
residential concrete floor, wall, and roof systems
- Comparison of time required and cost of building wood frame
homes and concrete homes built to meet the requirements of the
Institute of Business and Home Safety Fortified for Safer Living
Homebuilding Program
- Comparison of time required and costs of building wood
frame exterior wall assemblies and concrete homebuilding system
exterior wall assemblies to meet the requirements of Energy Star
Qualified Homes Thermal Bypass Inspection Checklist
- Recommended residential construction details for building
with concrete homebuilding systems including proper installation
Public Works
- Quantifying environmental advantages of Full-Depth Reclamation
of old asphalt pavement in terms of sustainable development and
life cycle assessment.
- Evaluation of Full-Depth Reclamation mixes with high percentages
of RAP.
- Best practices for preparing cement stabilized bases for asphalt
surfacing (curing methods and surface treatments).
- Use of asphalt mix design procedures (including Bailey Method)
to select aggregate gradation for Roller-Compacted Concrete mixes.
- Evaluation of warping and curling stresses in Roller-Compacted
Concrete pavements.
- Evaluation of Roller-Compacted Concrete mixes with high fines
content.
Masonry
- Development of practical curing techniques for masonry construction
- Develop more effective methods of placing grout to achieve
better performance while increasing grout lift height
- The seismic performance for new or existing structures where
masonry cement is used
Engineered Structures
- Reevaluate the nominal shear strength limits in reinforced concrete
coupling or link beams.
- Reevaluate the crack control reinforcement when using
the strut and tie design method in the AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design
Specification.
- Propose design requirements for transmission of HSC wall
loads through conventional strength concrete floor systems.
- Determine when ties are required for compression in shear
walls.
- Develop a standard method for small specimen fire tests.
Innovative projects in other areas of cement and concrete technology
will also be considered.
A university professor and the candidate student must jointly submit
applications. Applications must be received by January 15,
2010. Please follow the proposal
format when submitting a proposal in this competition. The proposal
should not exceed four pages in length using 12 point Times New Roman
font.
PCA committee members review and endorse nominations for support.
The PCA Education Foundation Board of Directors makes the final determination
regarding the selection of each fellowship. Final award determinations
are tentatively scheduled not later than June with award notifications
immediately thereafter. Awardees will be asked to attend an award
ceremony at the PCA Fall committee meeting. Awardees will
also attend committee meetings and are asked to present their research
results at PCA meetings.
Submittals with detailed descriptions of the proposed project should
be sent to: Steven H. Kosmatka
Portland Cement Association
5420 Old Orchard Road
Skokie, IL 60077-1083
Telephone: 847.972.9164
Email: skosmatka@cement.org
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