As I enter my 20^th year as an ACI member I’m looking forward to our Spring ACI Convention in Salt Lake City, UT.  I hope you’re planning to join us and if you’re new to ACI please ensure that you take in the Convention Orientation Breakfast on Sunday morning 8-9am in GA-Savoy.  You’ll get all the tips and inside track on how to get the most out your convention experience, and best of all, you’ll meet some great ACI folks that can help introduce you around.  The top brass are usually there, so you may get the chance to meet the President, Vice Presidents and the EVP.  Oh, there’s a free breakfast in it for you too.

Did you know that Chemical Admixtures is one of the fastest growing topics of interest to concrete and construction professionals in the industry today? If you’re interested in what’s new, I’d like to invite you to attend the New Innovations in Chemical Admixtures session held on Tuesday, March 27^th at 11am in the GA-Milano Room.  This is an opportunity to learn about the latest in concrete chemical admixtures. It is being sponsored by ACI Committee 212 Chemical Admixtures.

This session highlights industry specialists presenting papers outlining their research and real-world admixture innovations and applications. The papers presented are all introducing new concepts and technologies being used in the concrete industry today. They include: A Chemical Admixture with Carbon Nanotubes; The Use of Microspheres as an Alternative to Entraining Air Bubbles for Providing Resistance to Freeze Thaw and Salt Scaling; New Generation of High-Range Water Reducers and A New Generation of Micro-Particulate-Based Admixtures for Concrete.

As one of the session moderators, I will be kicking it off with an overview of some of the interesting abstracts submitted during our call for papers along with some helpful information on where to find technical and informative content on chemical admixtures, including guides on types and effects of various admixtures.  You will also be one of the first to hear about the new definition on chemical admixtures which has just been published in the Concrete Terminology (CT) 2018 guide.

There’s so much going on during an ACI Convention that I can’t possibly cover it all. I hope you will check out sessions and committee work, and if you’re interested in concrete materials, there are ACI committees that need your participation.  Feel free to track me down to discuss how you can be more involved.  You can find me in our Kryton Booth #30, along with my teammates, Brian and Sean.  Please come and say hello. We look forward to seeing you in Salt Lake City.

Kari Yuers

Chair, ACI 212 Chemical Admixtures

ACI Member since 1998