Giatec Award for Best Paper 2022 

We are very excited to announce the launch of our annual sustainability in construction research paper award contest! This is a great opportunity for civil engineers to expose their research and development to a global audience of industry experts. Plus, the winner will receive a monetary award of $1,000 US. The “Giatec Award for Best Paper” is open to civil-engineering professors, students (undergraduate and graduate), and researchers across Canada and the U.S. As a leading innovator in sustainable concrete, Giatec looks to connect academic research and development in sustainable construction with today’s jobsites.

Practicing sustainability in the concrete construction industry is still a challenge and Giatec looks forward to recognizing any valuable contribution to this field. Interested individuals can submit either an expository paper or a previously published article that relates to one of the following topics: 

• Sustainable concrete technology 
• Sustainable construction practices 
• Net-zero concrete practices 
• Advances in the use of alternative cementitious materials 
• Advances in the use and testing of supplementary cementitious materials 

Eligibility Criteria 

• Articles must be written in English 
• Articles must be a minimum of 1,000 words in length 
• Articles must cover one of the topics listed above 
• Previously published articles must have been published in 2021 
• Articles must be submitted by July 31, 2022 

How to Submit 

Submitting is easy. Simply upload a copy of your published article below. Remember, the deadline for submissions is July 31, 2022. A winner will be announced on September 1, 2022. 

Fill out this form!

Important Dates: 

Submission deadline: July 31, 2022 
Winner announced: September 1, 2022 

Share Your Research with a Global Scientific Community! 

In addition to the $1,000 US award, the author of the winning article will: 

• Present at Giatec’s annual Net Zero Construction Conference 
• Be featured on the Giatec blog, which has a global audience of 150,000 industry experts 
• Be shared across all of Giatec’s social media channels, where we engage with 50,000+ users each month 

Getting exposure on a global scale is a huge advantage for researchers, especially students who are just beginning to grow their networks and careers. 

Last Year’s Paper Award Winner! 

Strength Activity Index and Bulk Resistivity Index Modifications that Differentiate Inert and Reactive Materials 

Authors: 

Ying Wang, Lisa Burris, Christopher R. Shearer, Douglas Hooton, Prannoy Suraneni. 

Synopsis: 

To contribute to curing the carbon emission in the construction industry and increasing cement durability, Portland cement is often replaced by supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). Two important materials- fly ash and pozzolans- are used to achieve a strength activity index test (SAI), which determines that 20% SCM replacement portrays a significant strength of 75% in the control mixture. The SAI is, however, an inaccurate test because it does not account for the early testing age, low SCM replacement level, variable water–to–cementitious material ratio, and low strength requirements relative to the control mix. The results produced by SAI measure strength under conditions where the reactivity is low, which gives misguided outcomes. This can be improved by using bulk resistivity along with isothermal calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis to evaluate hydration and reaction in these conditions. The results showed that the most efficient way to test the differentiation between inert and reactive material was using the bulk resistivity index test (BRI) at high temperatures of 50° C.  

Read the full paper here. 

About Giatec

Giatec is a global company revolutionizing the construction industry by bringing smart testing technologies and real-time data collection to the forefront of every jobsite. Giatec’s suite of hardware & software products has leveraged advanced technologies such as; AI, and Internet of Things (IoT), including; wireless concrete sensors, mobile apps, and advanced non-destructive technologies (NDT) to drive innovation throughout concrete’s lifecycle and reduce concrete’s carbon footprint. For more information visit www.giatec.ca.