Since 1995, when the Ohio Ready Mixed Concrete Association first provided scholarship support to Rhodes State (then known as Lima Technical College),
Since 1995, when the Ohio Ready Mixed Concrete Association first provided scholarship support to Rhodes State (then known as Lima Technical College), 56 students have graduated from the two-year Concrete Technology program. All of the graduates have found work in the concrete industry or continued their education to obtain four-year civil engineering degrees.
Under the chairmanship of J. Erik Robey, Rhodes State students gain hands-on experience with concrete as well as classroom training. Supplementing academic work are field trips to concrete testing and research laboratories and construction projects in Ohio, plus a visit to World of Concrete in Las Vegas.
With travel costs partially offset by sale of precast items made from leftover lab mixes, the students also assist at the show, working in seminar sessions with audio-visual equipment and distributing speakers’ handouts. Moreover, during the 2006 ORMCA Annual Meeting, three Rhodes State Concrete Technology students assisted in the technical sessions and attended the Rhodes State College Scholarship Luncheon, where the school received a $35,000 check from ORMCA to support the Concrete Technology program.