ACI Concrete Solutions Competition 2021

A 7-member team [In picture (from left to right): Mudassir Rehman, Muneeb Ahmad, Ammar Siddiqi, Talha Bhutto, Faculty Advisor: Dr Shamsoon Fareed, Alyina Hashmi, Faiza Hassan, Sadia Ajmal] of third year civil engineering students from ACI NEDUET Student Chapter represented NED University of Engineering & Technology at the ACI (American Concrete Institute) Spring Virtual Concrete Solutions Competition 2021 and won 1st prize in the Most Innovative Design/Developmental Use of Concrete Category.  

The ACI Spring Concrete Solutions Competition 2021 was open to ACI Student Chapters from across the globe. Teams were required to submit a YouTube video to demonstrate/explain how their use of concrete could positively impact the world at large. The top 20 submittals were shortlisted for a live interview with judges during the ACI Virtual Concrete Convention on 28th March. 
This was the first time that any team from NED University of Engineering and Technology or from Pakistan had participated in this global competition. The teams that were shortlisted included teams from USA, Philippines, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Jordan, Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru. Most of these teams had been participating in ACI’s event for years. Despite this, the solution given by NED’s young innovators made its way to the top in the category of the Most Innovative Design/ Developmental use of concrete, amongst all these formidable opponents.

NEDUET’s team presented the use of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (SCBA) as a partial replacement of cement in concrete, thereby significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the cement industry without compromising on the functionality and technical aspects of concrete.