Vermont Tech students took 1st and 2nd place overall in the RC3 Spring 2015 College Scholarship Awards Student Concrete Cylinder Competition. Teams from throughout New England competed for this award, which was sponsored by the RC3 Reninforced Concrete Construction Committee. The competition was held at Benevento Concrete in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Vermont Tech students also placed first and second in the Closest Strength category and second in the Least Cost category. The student teams were awarded scholarships for their efforts.
Teams were asked to design, produce and test their own sustainable concrete mixture. The student teams (three or four students each) were required to design and produce a mixture that would attain a strength as close as possible to the target goal of 6,500 psi, create a mixture that reduces the amount of Portland cement by using the ecological and sustainable substitutes of fly ash and slag, while making sure the mixture was as economical as possible. Students were also required to design and produce a mixture as close to a target weight of 143 pounds per cubic foot as possible. Lastly, they wrote engineering reports that described the research that led to their design.
With concrete being the single-most widely used manufactured material in the world, learning to efficiently and sustainable design concrete is a benefit to society. In participating in this competition and placing among the winners, Vermont Tech students have demonstrated the abilities they have already attained to better the built environment with ecological, economical and high-performing materials. Learn more about the Architectural Engineering Technology and Civil & Environmental Engineering Technology degree programs online.