PhD student Fabian B. Rodriguez has received a 2022 John Faber Scholarship from the American Coal Ash Association Educational Foundation (ACAAEF). The ACAAEF awards scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students with demonstrated interest in the management and beneficial use of coal combustion products (CCP).

Fabian joined the Purdue Concrete 3D-Printing team back in 2017 as an undergraduate visitor student working with Prof. Jan Olek (CE), Prof. Pablo Zavattieri (CE), and Prof. Jeffrey P. Youngblood (MSE). His doctoral work relates to the development of structures via 3D-printing of concrete.  His research has focused  on developing mixtures using alternative materials, including byproducts of other industrial processes such as fly ashes, bottom ashes, and slag. This could potentially contribute to the mixture and process development efforts that both academia and industry have approached to produce high-quality materials, not only from the perspective of the mechanical performance but also for long-term durability in particular exposure conditions while making them both economically and environmentally viable for their application on large-scale infrastructure.