We have an on-going collaboration with the Low-Carbon Cements Initiative with the United Nations Environment Programme. For this work, we contribute environmental impact assessment methods, tools, and results to further our understanding of potential routes to help meet the growing needs for cement-based infrastructure while mitigating the environmental and resource burdens. You can now read our most recent report.
We participate in American Concrete Institute (ACI) work on an ongoing basis. This organization is responsible for writing the structural concrete code (as well as other concrete documentation) for the United States. Our participation includes PI Miller serving as a voting member of the Sustainability in Concrete Committee as well as being an associate member of the Materials Science Committee and our group gives presentations at ACI conventions.
As part of our efforts to extend science into action, we have given several presentations to Non-governmental Organizations on how industrial materials are produced. These presentations have emphasized how environmental impacts can be reduced from materials production, while maintaining or improving performance of those materials.
We have an ongoing aspiration to attract the next potential generation of scientists to participate in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). At the University of California Davis, we are working with the Mathematics Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Schools Program to engage K-12 students. This has included participating in several MESA events including their engineering lab-tours and the inclusion of support for MESA programs in funding applications.