Civil engineering undergraduates learn about reinforced concrete through mixing, bending rebar, creating molds, pouring and finally testing concrete beams of two different sizes using CIEST's bending load frame equipped with a 110-kip actuator. Failure modes of bending moment and shear are observed. 

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Title: Engineers without borders & CIEST student concrete clinic

Year: 2024

Participants: Engineers without borders, CIEST

Summary:

In the spring of 2024 CIEST hosted a student tutorial for the non-profit, Engineers without Borders or EWB. The tutorial was aimed at giving students experience making concrete before a trip to Nepal. The following video contains some of this process . The non-profit, EWB, is an organization that goes to regions with limited access to building materials and creates infrastructure for underdeveloped towns and villages. We at CIEST were exited to be a part of Engineers without Border's mission, and would like to give special thanks to Rebecca Komarek, and Cayden Stratford for their help organizing the clinic.

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Year: 2019-2020

Participants: Joe Borgerding, Isaiah Brooks, Austin Maes, Nestor Montejo, Andrew Townsend, Grant Stewart

Summary: A Mechanical Engineering Senior Design team, sponsored by Shell, worked with CIEST on their project throughout the 2019-20 academic year. The goal of the project was to design, manufacture, and test the vibration responses of different piping systems with and without mitigation methods applied. The piping systems included an expansion loop system and 90 degree bend system, and the mitigation consisted of fixed restraints. The systems were tested using CIEST’s large shake table. This hands on testing enabled their team to explore the effects of common mitigation techniques to better understand vibration as a phenomenon while gaining valuable experience with testing procedures and data processing.

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Year: 2020

Participants: Anna Broerman, Kaitlyn Gentert

Summary: Erie High School student Anna Broerman, accompanied by her teacher Kaitlyn Gentert, investigated the inclusion of mycelium in cement bricks to aid in seismic performance for her AP research project. Mycelium is derived from fungus-like bacteria, such as mushrooms, and has been shown to maintain its strength long after death, making it an interesting component for mix design. Anna compared results from compression and 4-point bending tests between bricks with and without mycelium fibers to characterize material properties using CIEST's 10-kip (45 kN) Instron UTM. Using mortar, she then constructed small structures, again with and without mycelium, mounted to CIEST's 4-kip (18 kN) shake table to see if the fibers provided a natural seismic resiliency. With special help from Dr. Jaroslav Hruby, the structures were taken through frequency sweeps where the eigenfrequency was isolated and then taken to failure with increasing steps in acceleration. This was a valuable hands-on experience for Anna and Mrs. Gentert. CIEST hopes to continue teaming up with local high schools to provide unique and unforgettable outreach experiences.

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Year: 2019

Participants: CU Sesismic Design Team Students

Summary: The CU Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) Seismic Design Team competed in Vancouver for 2019 competition. The students worked very hard, testing multiple protypes on the CIEST Labratory shake table to perfect their building. The expeiencial learning that comes from these types of events are incredible!

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Year: hosted 2019, held annually

Participants: American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter

Description: The CU ASCE student chapter hosted the ASCE Rocky Mountain Regional Conference in April 2019, which was attended by student ASCE chapters from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. There was large community envolvment, including many student volunteers and participants, industry, and staff support. The CIEST staff helped support the conference from the early developmental stage through the completion of the conference. The conference was a great way to celebrate the hard work of the conference comittee and the student competition teams from each school that worked so hard to compete.

Image above:

Two CU Students race their concrete canoes as fast as they can at the 2019 Regional Rocky Mountain ASCE Conference.

Photo Credits: Cliff Grassmick 

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Course: AREN 4830 - Sustainable Materials and Structures

Year: 2018

Participants: Students and Graduate Teacher, Jay Arehart

Summary: Students developed concrete mix designs optimized for strength, cost, and sustainability. They also employed a variety of strategies to minimize the environmental impacts of their concretes such as using supplementary cementitious materials and recycled concrete aggregates. After designing their mixtures, the students mixed their concrete and cast cylinders that were testing for their ultimate compressive strength. The CIEST lab served as a resource for the students to learn about concrete mix designs and their environmental impacts.

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Course: CVEN 5111 - Structural Dynamics

Year: 2015

Participants: 20 students, Prof. Petros Sideris and Derek Carpenter

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Course: CVEN 5835 - Experimental Methods in Structural Engineering

Year: 2014 and 2017

Participants: 10-15 students, Prof. Petros Sideris and Derek Carpenter

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Year: Annually

Participants: American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter

Summary: ASCE student chapters have designed and raced concrete canoes in the National Concrete Canoe Competition since the early 1970s. The competition objectives include providing hands-on experience with concrete mix designs and increasing awareness of the wide application and versatility of concrete. Students often work in CIEST concrete prep room to make the canoe. The 2017 competition took place at the University of Utah.

Image to right: Two students cut Styrofoam to make the mold for the concrete canoe.

Students transporting the canoe to the competition.

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