Abigail Kienzle, a civil engineering junior from Albany, NY, and honors program member, presented her research this week at the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Concrete Spring 2022 Convention in Orlando, Florida. It is an international forum attended by leading academics and practitioners from the global concrete community. Abby was invited to attend the conference as a guest sponsored by ICA.

Abby is an undergraduate research assistant in the lab of civil and environmental engineering professor Robert Thomas. His work focuses on the early age solidification behavior of belitic calcium sulfoaluminate (BCSA) cement. BCSA cement is an emerging cement that has a significantly lower carbon footprint and embodied energy than traditional Portland cements. BCSA sets much faster than traditional cements, which means it can also be used to speed up construction.

“Abby is studying how to control solidification behavior at an early age using citric acid retardants. At this time we only use BCSA as a repair material as it hardens within 15-20 minutes of mixing. By extending the setting time to a few hours to allow mixing, transporting and placing the concrete, Abby’s work will enable us to use BCSA cement in general construction,” said Professor Thomas.