Civil and environmental engineers from across the globe will be invited to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on June 4 as Rensselaer continues to play an active role in innovative Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) research. 

The events Rensselaer is hosting are part of the Second International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High Performance Concrete, which is being held in Albany, June 2-5, 2019. UHPC is a highly durable, efficient, and strong form of concrete that has become a significant focus of research, said Mohammed Alnaggar, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at Rensselaer. 

“New York state is one of the leading states in the U.S. to use UHPC in its transportation infrastructure, and that is one of the main reasons the symposium is held here,” he said. 

A student competition will bring together 10 teams from national and international universities who will be testing UHPC beams that they made. They will be judged on how aesthetically pleasing and structurally efficient their beams are. That event runs from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 4, at the Jonsson Engineering Center on the Rensselaer campus.  

Rensselaer will also host a hands-on activity allowing participants to make their own UHPC souvenir by mixing, casting, and demolding. The materials that will be used are being provided by six different UHPC suppliers in the U.S. who will also give a presentation about their products during the activity. 

Alnaggar will share his own research on understanding and modeling UHPC behavior by giving tours of his lab. He points out that Rensselaer’s participation in this event shows the integral role the institution plays in UHPC research.