ORGANIZATIONS – JUNE 2019

The American Concrete Institute Foundation’s Concrete Research Council (CRC) has announced grants for six projects this year, including two with environmental themes: “Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator Tool,” led by Kathrina Simonen of the University of Washington-hosted Carbon Leadership Forum and Phil Northcott of C-Change Labs; and, “Effective Characterizations of Recycled Concrete Aggregate for Concrete Applications,” led by Jiong Hu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Tara Cavalline, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Joining them on the CRC 2019 project roster are “An Innovative Approach to Concrete Confinement Reinforcement,” led by Ashley Thrall and Yahya Kurama, University of Notre Dame; “Deconstruction Monitoring of a Cast-in-Place Segmental Concrete Box Girder Bridge,” led by Matthew Yarnold and John Mander, Texas A&M University; “Structural Response and Buckling Behavior of Slender Ultra High Performance Columns,” led by Mohamed Moustafa, University of Nevada, Reno; and, “Optimization of Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Using Data Mining,” led by Emilio Garcia-Taengua, University of Leeds.

CRC pegs research projects that further the knowledge and sustainability of concrete materials, construction, and structures in coordination with ACI Committees where possible. It recommended these six projects for funding, based on impact to industry, ACI Committee engagement, and collaboration with other funders and organizations.



Paul Franzen

The Construction Industry Round Table, a national business trade association comprised of approximately 125 chief executives from leading design and construction companies, has elected Paul Franzen, president of Barnard Construction, as 2019 chairman. A founding Construction Industry Safety Initiative member, Franzen joined the Bozeman, Mont., heavy/civil contractor in 1990 and was promoted to president in 2000. He oversees management and development activities, from negotiating new contracts and implementing long-range plans, to routinely visiting project sites, participating in partnering meetings and constructability reviews.