IUCRC Planning Grant Arizona State University: Center for Concrete Advanced Network - CAN

混凝土促进网络(CAN)是一个由学术和工业研究人员组成的联盟，致力于将尖端技术引入水泥和混凝土材料行业，改善建筑环境。水泥和混凝土是无处不在的人造材料，并继续在建筑中广泛使用。尽管普遍使用，但大多数现代水泥和混凝土的应用都是基于相对过时的技术，需要大量的原材料投入。该IUCRC将允许研究人员在纳米技术、自下而上工程、可回收性、利用机器学习改进结构设计以及与改善全国建筑物和基础设施中混凝土使用的新兴技术相关的最新进展方面进行合作。该奖项支持CANIUCRC的规划阶段，使团队和来自行业的参与领导人能够探索未得到满足的需求，确定有前景的研究趋势，并正式建立拟议中心的5年研究计划。规划研讨会将允许成员和行业合作伙伴制定研究议程，为四个成员地点选择第一批研究项目，并促进合作活动。CAN将由威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校牵头，亚利桑那州立大学、俄勒冈州立大学和德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校为合作伙伴。CAN的成员将促进将新概念和想法转化为具有影响力的可扩展和可实施的解决方案。行业合作伙伴将通过提供试验台并向水泥和混凝土企业推广CAN的价值主张和研究成果，引导CAN的研究方向和优先事项的实现。CAN的使命是通过材料和工艺方面的创新，通过利用学术界和相关行业合作伙伴之间的受使用启发的研究和合作，提高混凝土材料和结构的弹性和可持续性。CAN将计划开发新的技术和方法，以带来下一代混凝土，这种混凝土节能、可快速部署、劳动效率高、经济，而且比现有混凝土对自然资源的依赖更少。协作团队的研究能力将把混凝土材料和设计方面的科学进步与多尺度建模、机器学习、人工智能以及最终的数字制造结合起来，朝着这一关键和大规模工业部门的尖端概念迈进。在规划研讨会和为期12个月的规划资助期内，CAN行业和学术领袖将讨论当前的限制、障碍和障碍，以确定行业/学术研究和传播、工科学生教育和就业准备的直接解决方案，并扩大STEM中代表性不足的学生的参与。CAN寻求为国家日益恶化的基础设施提供长期解决方案，并满足未来对交通、基础设施、建筑和住房的需求。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Concrete Advancement Network (CAN) is a consortium of academic and industrial researchers engaged in bringing cutting-edge technologies to the cement and concrete materials industries, improving the built environment. Cement and concrete represent ubiquitous human-made materials and continue to be widely utilized in construction. Despite a universal utilization, most modern cement and concrete applications are based on relatively dated technology, requiring massive inputs of raw materials. This IUCRC will allow researchers to collaborate on the latest advancements in nanotechnology, bottom-up engineering, recyclability, improved structural design with machine learning, and emergent technologies relating to the improvement of concrete in its use throughout the nation’s buildings and infrastructure. This award supports the planning phase of the CAN IUCRC to enable the team and participating leaders from industry to explore unmet needs, identify promising research trends, and formally establish the 5-year research plan for the proposed Center. The Planning Workshop will allow members and industry partners to establish the research agenda, select the first pool of research projects for the four member sites, and foster collaborative activities. CAN will be led by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with Arizona State University, Oregon State University, and the University of Texas at Arlington as partners. CAN’s members will facilitate the translation of novel concepts and ideas into scalable and implementable solutions with impact. Industry partners will steer CAN’s research direction and priorities to realization by providing testbeds and promoting CAN’s value proposition and research results to cement and concrete businesses.CAN’s mission is to enhance the resilience and sustainability of concrete materials and structures through innovations in materials and processing by leveraging use-inspired research and collaborations between academia and related industrial partners. CAN will plan to develop new techniques and methods that will usher the next generation of concrete that is energy-efficient, rapidly deployable, labor efficient, economical, and less dependent on natural resources than existing concrete. The collaborative teams research capabilities will couple scientific advances in concrete materials and design with multi-scale modeling, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and, ultimately digital manufacturing, towards cutting-edge concepts in this critical and massive-scale industrial sector. At the planning workshop and during the 12-month planning grant period, CAN industry and academic leaders will discuss current limitations, barriers, and obstacles to identify immediate solutions for industry/academic research and dissemination, engineering student education and job-preparedness, and broadening the participation of students underrepresented in STEM. CAN seeks to provide long-term solutions for the nation’s deteriorating infrastructure and meet the demand for future transportation, infrastructure, buildings, and housing.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.