Professor Lesley Sneed awarded by the American Concrete Institute
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Professor Lesley Sneed has been awarded the Wason Medal for Materials Research by the American Concrete Institute (ACI) for the coauthored paper “Hooking Effect on Flexural Strength and Toughness of Steel Fiber-Reinforced Concrete Beams,” published in the November 2024 issue of the ACI Materials Journal.
“I’m honored to receive this award with an amazing team of researchers,” said Sneed, director of the High-Bay Structural Laboratory at UIC.
The paper explains how steel fibers with different types of end hooks enhance concrete beams’ flexural strength and toughness. Adding steel fibers to concrete helps improve structural performance, leading to safer and more economical infrastructure.
“Findings from this work will help improve the design of structures made with steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC), advancing the development of SFRC,” Sneed said.
ACI is a global organization that serves as a leading authority on concrete, providing consensus-based standards, technical resources, educational programs, and certification to professionals in concrete design, construction, and materials. Its mission is to promote the best use of concrete through its members, committees, publications, and digital resources, including the ACI Collection of concrete codes and specifications. Sneed is a Fellow of the Institute and serves on several of ACI’s technical committees, including ACI Committee 318, which develops and maintains building code requirements for structural concrete.
The Wason Medal for Materials Research is bestowed on the author(s) of a peer-reviewed ACI Materials Journal paper published by the Institute that makes extraordinary contributions or impact on the state of knowledge of cement-based materials used in the construction industry.