University of Balamand Civil Engineering students earned first and third prize at the ACI Self Consolidating Concrete Student’s Competition with Melissa Najjar scooping the first prize while Rim Mansour and Rami Yamak came in third. The competition that was held on September 19, 2019 at Le Royal Hotel-Dbayeh was organized by Advanced Construction Technology Services (ACTS), Lebanese Concrete Society, and the ACI Lebanon Chapter. More than 12 teams from 8 Lebanese universities took part.

This student competition aims to promote the idea of a low-cost self-consolidating concrete. Competing teams are required to develop an innovative concrete mixture that will have optimal flow and durability performances. The three participating UOB teams were all supervised by Dr. Joseph Asaad, Dr. Najib Gerges, and Dr. Hikmat Zerbe. The teams comprised of one or two students: Melissa Najjar, Rim Mansour and Rami Yamak, and Laurice El Khoury and Ralph Jabbour. Melissa Najjar, the first prize winner, won an all-expense trip to The Concrete Convention and Exposition, Cincinnati, OH, USA, from October 20-24, 2019.

ACI Competition organizers remarked that our teams were leading performers among all participants from all 8 universities and have set very high benchmarks for concrete mix formulations and properties by achieving the highest concrete flowability with minimal bleeding and segregation, optimum passing ability through reinforcing bars of the L-box test, best VSI ranking that ensures high stability and cohesiveness, as well as reaching compressive strengths of 100 MPa after 7 days of curing. The quality of their work will certainly raise the ACI competition standards in the coming years.

In a statement, Vice President for Internationalization and Engagement and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Prof. Rami Abboud congratulated the Civil Engineering Department on this outstanding accomplishment that is a clear testament to the quality of our programs, the dedication and commitment of our students, and the vigilant support they receive from our hardworking staff. “I was unlucky not to attend in person to applaud our students and staff but delighted to receive the news. The involvement of our students and faculty members in competitions like these truly underlines the extensiveness of our student experience. We look forward to more competitions and more good news.”