University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth, MN

UMD focuses on resilient precast and organizational management

At the University of Minnesota Duluth, the focus is on resilient precast and organizational management. Dr. Ben Dymond of the Department of Civil Engineering (CE) coordinates the program that includes faculty from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and the Master of Business Administration program. Paul Kourajian of Molin Concrete Products is the industry champion for the program. This multidisciplinary educational program combines the traditional approach to concrete engineering education with cutting-edge knowledge related to resiliency and business management.

CE 4126 DESIGN OF CONCRETE STRUCTURES

This class is required in CE at UMD and about 50% of the content is about precast concrete. Students are able to reference a scaled precast teaching demo structure that was built in the CE high bay laboratory as part of this program.

CE 4128 PRESTRESSED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

Students in this course were introduced to Concise

Beam design software and completed the PCI Big Beam design as a semester capstone project. Two student teams planned to submit their big beam competition results, but they did not fabricate or test their beams due to COVID 19.

CE 4100 + BUS 2400 ORGANIZATIONAL MANAGEMENT IN PRECAST CONCRETE

During the spring 2020 semester, students heard from several precast industry guest speakers, including. The speakers highlighted: (1) precast resiliency; (2) organizational mission and core values; (3) strategic planning and goals; (4) organizational structure and culture; (5) leading and working in teams; (6) product planning; (7) control plans and change management; and (8) leadership and management.

CE 4255 SENIOR DESIGN CAPSTONE

During the fall 2020 semester, the CE capstone course included a structural engineering component focusing on resiliency and design of a pretensioned parking ramp. The students were also placed into interdisciplinary groups and tasked with designing the civil engineering aspects related to a new pretensioned concrete ramp.

Unique Program Aspects

• After successfully completing the four courses that make up the precast concrete sequence, students receive an official UMD certificate on their transcript that denotes expertise in resiliency, business management, and precast concrete

• Students in the Prestressed Concrete Structures course completed the PCI Big Beam design as a semester capstone project

• This is the only PCI Foundation program that includes business coursework in addition to prestressed design and construction topics.

Faculty

Mary Christiansen, PhD, LEED AP

Associate Professor

Ben Dymond, PhD

Assistant Professor

Alison Hoxie, PhD

Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies

Andrea Schokker, PhD PE LEED AP

Department Head & Professor

Industry Partners

County Materials Corporation

Matt Fall

Fabcon Precast

Tracy Engstrand

Jeff Prewitt

Molin Concrete

Dan Bible

Minnesota Prestress Association

Mike Johnsrud

PCI Midwest

Mike Johnsrud

US Formliner

Ray Clark

Wells Concrete

Gary Pooley

Ryan Garden

Student Statistics

• The program includes content in four courses taken during a student’s junior and senior years.

• In 2020, at least 27 students were enrolled in or finishing the resilient precast certificate program.

• Eight students each received a $2,450 industry scholarship that aligned with their participation in the program.