The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s College of Engineering & Applied Science, along with Oregon State University, have been selected by the U.S. National Science Foundation to open a new research center dedicated to creating environmentally friendly, durable, and labor efficient concrete. Both universities will also research ways to make concrete more cost-effective.
The new center, called the Concrete Advancement Network, is supported by a $1.5 million grant from the NSF’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC). The initial investment made by the NSF is also being matched by some of IUCRC’s industrial members.
“Concrete is manufactured and used on an enormous scale,” said Konstantin Sobolev, director of CAN and UWM professor of civil engineering. “Therefore, it is a material that consumes large volumes of resources: raw materials, energy, manpower and time. Even a modest improvement in the energy or other resources needed to produce concrete can result in a significant societal benefit and reduction of cost.”
CAN will be focused on getting new technologies, such as greener concrete, into use in the construction sector.
CAN is one of more than 80 IUCRCs across the country. More than 120 U.S. universities are involved in an IUCRC. The groups aim to accelerate the impact of basic academic research through relationships with industry and government leaders.
With assistance from the Arizona State University and the University of Texas at Arlington, CAN researchers will work together on the latest advancements in nanotechnology, engineering, recyclability, improved structural design with machine learning, and emergent application areas related to improving uses of concrete in the nation’s infrastructure.
