Students Balance Design Requirements in Concrete Craft Competition

Students from concrete materials class with competition winners Hale, Koch, and Kundinger, their professor Kejin Wang, and judge Bob Steffes

Associate professor Kejin Wang (third from the left), judge Bob Steffes (second from the left), and winning team (circled, from left to right—Rondal Hale, Kristen Koch, Jessica Kundinger)

Several concrete paperweights made by students for concrete art craft competition

Concrete art craft objects

In spring 2007, the ingenuity of the students in Iowa State University’s undergraduate concrete materials class was put to the test again. Their culminating activity for the semester was the third annual concrete craft competition sponsored by the CP Tech Center.

The objective was to design a low-cost, high-strength mix for a concrete paperweight.

The winning team of Koch, Kundinger, and Hale designed a mix with an average compressive strength of 10,761 lb/in² at a cost of $92/yd³. Their paperweight was a scaled-down version of a masonry block with inlaid Iowa State plaques.

The cost of the 11 team projects ranged from $43/yd³ to $131/yd³, and the strength ranged from 4,490 lb/in² to 10,761 lb/in².

The competition helped the students understand the challenge of reducing mix costs while achieving structural performance requirements. It also demonstrated the importance of a project’s overall aesthetic.

Most groups chose very low water to cement ratio mix designs, which accentuated the need for concrete admixtures for workability and let them experience the connection between design and constructability.

Associate Professor Kejin Wang is looking forward to the next competition. “Each year the art crafts get better and I cannot wait to see what the next semester will bring.”