A student team from Missouri University of Science and Technology has built a concrete beam reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars to compete against colleges and universities from around the world at the American Concrete Institute’s Fiber-Reinforced Polymers Composites Competition.

The competition will take place during the Concrete Convention and Exposition held Sunday, April 12, at the Kansas City Convention Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The competition challenges students to design, construct and test a concrete structure with advanced materials. Over 45 university teams will participate in the event.

Teams are judged on the polymer coating’s predicted strength and cost-load ratio. Cost-load ratio is calculated by the cost of the concrete materials and chemical admixtures plus the cost of the FRP reinforcement adjusted for forming costs. Teams can earn credit for implementation of sustainable design concepts.

Missouri S&T will be represented by the following students:

Ryan Hogenmiller, a senior in civil engineering from Washington, Missouri

Kenneth Knollmeyer, a senior in civil engineering from Linn, Missouri

Jordan DeBoeuf, a senior in civil engineering from Washington, Missouri

Bradley Graves, a senior in civil engineering from De Soto, Missouri

Nathan Monzyk, a senior in civil engineering from Marthasville, Missouri

Dillon Barks, a senior in civil engineering from Rolla, Missouri

The team’s faculty advisors are Dr. Lesley Sneed, an associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri S&T, and Dr. Dimitri Feys, an assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering at Missouri S&T. For more information about the conference or competition, visit concrete.org.