Award for CIRG member at fib conference in Rome

On November 18^th-19^th the fib Italy Young Members Group hosted the second Symposium on Concrete and Concrete structures in Rome - a city famous for its concrete, both ancient and modern. Two of the group members, Postdoc Michele and PhD student Jess, attended the conference to present their work, accompanied by PhD student Hasini [pictured below, left to right: Jess, Hasini, Michele]. 

Michele presented his research paper titled ‘Effectiveness of Arch Behaviour in Reinforced Concrete Beams Subjected to Shear’. His contribution focusses on improving the understanding of the interaction between beam action and arch action in shear-critical reinforced concrete elements. This work is part of a larger ongoing research aimed at enhancing the mechanical and environmental performance of concrete structures.

Jess presented her research on “Carbonation depth measurement of concretes exposed to different curing and preconditioning conditions, using image-processing tools”. Her work demonstrates the improvements to carbonation front detection possible using image colour thresholds, and the benefits of this in scenarios where manual measurement is ambiguous.

At the end of a dynamic two days and over 50 presentations demonstrating the cutting edge in concrete research, Jess was presented with an award for “best research advances in concrete and concrete structures”. Research from both group members was well received and sparked interesting conversation. This is a real success for the group and a great “first conference back” post-pandemic!  

The theme of the event was “The future of concrete structures: towards resilience and technological innovation” [https://www.cte-eventi.com/fibyoungsymposium/ ]. It was organised with the support of the Collegio dei Tecnici della Industrializzazione Edilizia - Board of Building Industry Specialists (CTE), Associazione Italiana Calcestruzzo Armato e Precompresso - Italian Association for Structural Concrete (aicap) and Fédération internationale du béton - International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib).