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PCA Education Foundation Research Fellowship Program
R&D Home> PCA Education Foundation >Research Fellowship Program

2008 Call for Nominations

The support provided by the PCA 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.

Academic faculty are invited annually to submit nominations for outstanding degree candidates in engineering and the physical sciences. The fellowships are open to any student in the U.S. 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, and related educational expenses.

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

Residential
  • Structural innovations and energy efficient technologies for residential concrete floor, wall, and roof systems

  • Acoustical attenuation of residential concrete

  • Determining internal pressures in insulating concrete forms during concrete placement
Public Works
  • Quantifying environmental advantages of Full-Depth Reclamation of old asphalt pavement.

  • 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
  • Shear friction coefficients for monolithic controlled density concrete.

  • Develop the relationship between a full scale concrete fire test per ASTM E 119 and a small concrete specimen tested in electric furnaces.

  • Vibration assessment and design guidelines for concrete floor systems.

  • Reinforced concrete building design in the BIM environment.

  • When are ties for vertical compression reinforcement in walls needed?
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, 2008. Please follow the proposal format when submitting a proposal in this competition. It 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 committee meeting in September. 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


Resumes of Fellowship Recipients

Kofi Gyabaa Ayensu
Fatih Bektas
Zachary C. Grasley
Jason H. Ideker
John T. Kevern
Blake R. Kreuer
Tyler Ley
Luis A. Mata
Aleksandra Radlinska
G. Benjamin Reese
Chang-Seon Shon
Lesley Haynes Sneed

 
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