The American Concrete Institute announced that the ACI Virtual Concrete Convention will be held March 28-April 1, 2021. Originally scheduled as an in-person event in Baltimore, MD, this 100% virtual event will provide ease for participation from anywhere around the world while prioritizing attendee safety. 

“The ACI Virtual Concrete Convention held last October provided a record-breaking number of attendees the opportunity to participate in our programming,” stated Ronald G. Burg, PE, executive vice president, American Concrete Institute. “For this coming March, we’ve assembled a lineup featuring hundreds of the industry’s brightest speakers sharing industry-leading information on a diverse offering of concrete materials, design, construction, and repair topics.  Registered attendees to the ACI Virtual Concrete Convention will be presented with 5 days packed full of live presentations, expert discussions, committee meetings, virtual networking opportunities, and more.”

A total of 45 technical sessions will be presented live with on-demand viewing available afterwards, providing substantial opportunity to advance knowledge and earn Continuing Education Units (CEUs)/Professional Development Hours (PDHs).  Of the 45 total sessions, five featured sessions include:

• Legal Issues in Concrete Construction – Lessons Learned: This session will bring together individuals with extensive experience in litigation related to concrete construction to share their experiences as lawyers, expert witnesses, and engineers through case studies and experience-based recommendations. Moderated by Jeff Coleman, with speakers Randy Poston, Bill Rushing, Matt D’Ambrosia, and Jeff Coleman.

• The Concrete Industry in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: This session will provide insight on the merit of using artificial intelligence (AI) in the concrete industry with focus on how to better the performance of concrete materials at ambient and elevated temperatures and showcase the substantial potential of using AI to improve design of concrete structures under traditional and fire conditions.  Moderated by M. Z. Naser, with speakers Henry Burton, Andrew Fahim, Pouria Ghods, Aali Alizadeh, Tahmid Medhi, Hayder Rasheed, Alaaeldin Abouelleil, Eric Fletcher, Emilio Taenqua, Liberato Ferrara, Ali Al-Obaidi, S. Gupta, and M. Z. Naser.

• Adjusting Workability of Successful 3-D Concrete Printing: This two-part session will highlight the importance of controlling fresh-state properties for the successful execution of 3-D concrete printing. Moderated by Shiho Kawashima and Scott Jones, with speakers Mohamadreza Moini, Jan Olek, Pablo Zavattieri, Jeffrey Youngblood, Gaurav Sant, Jason Timmons, Iman Mehdipour, Shang Gao, Hakan Atahan, Narayanan Neithalath, Mathieu Bauchy, Edward Garboczi, Samanvaya Srivastava, Wilson Ricardo Leal da Silva, Thomas Andersen, Nicos Martys, Scott Jones, William George, Timothy Wangler, Robert Flatt, Peter Stynoski, Eric Kreiger, Megan Kreiger, Viktor Mechtcherine, Karthik Pattaje, Chuanyue Shen, David Lange, Lex Reiter, Sooraj Nair, Manu Santhanam, Gaurav Sant, Narayanan Neithalath, Mohammed Sonebi, M. Dedenis, Sofiane Amziane, Arnaud Perrot, Joseph Biernacki, Hajar Afarani, Edward Garboczi, Newell Moser, and Ebrahim Nasr-Esfahani.

• Impact of Hot Weather Conditions on Concrete Repair: This two-part session will assist contractors, material suppliers, and specifiers with practical information that can be used for planning, constructing, and designing successful hot weather repair projects. Moderated by G. Terry Harris.

• Productivity in the Concrete Industry – Why Has it Stagnated and How Can ACI Help? Productivity in the U.S. construction industry has been flat for 50 years, while productivity of U.S. industry in general has nearly doubled in that same time frame. Why?  And what can ACI do about it?  This session will explore answers to these and other questions and will include presentations from designers and contractors offering their perspectives on how ACI can help confront this very important industry issue. Moderated by Cary Kopczynski, with speakers Oscar Antommattei, Mike Schneider, Mario Garza, Mike Tholen, and Cary Kopczynski.

The ACI Virtual Concrete Convention will also include 300+ virtual meetings enabling ACI committees the opportunity to collaborate on advancing concrete codes, specifications, and practices. Additional convention programming open to registered attendees include an Opening Session with keynote speaker, International Forum, Concrete Mixer, President’s Reception, and several student activities. 

Discounted registration is available to ACI members, and complimentary registration available to ACI student members. Learn more and register at ACIConvention.org.