CTS Cement Manufacturing Corporation has announced the formation of the CTS Research Alliance.

According to CTS Cement founder Ed Rice, the CTS Research Alliance will bring together educational leaders to research and develop knowledge related to the use of calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) rapid-hardening and expansive cements. The initiative addresses the reality that current cement chemistry curriculum in universities is focused almost exclusively on traditional Portland cement technology and does not incorporate rapid-hardening cement.

The first goal of the alliance is to develop curriculum in universities that addresses these cements. Eric Bescher, adjunct professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of California, Los Angles (UCLA) and Chris Ramseyer, assistant professor, School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science at the University of Oklahoma, developed a tutorial about rapid-hardening calcium sulfoaluminate-based cements that professors can use to complement their current curriculum.

“We noticed that when the fundamentals of cement science were taught, the focus of the curricula was almost exclusively on the century-old Portland cement technology,” said Bescher. “As a result, we saw a gap between what students were taught and what people in the field were learning through experience. We wanted to fill that gap with a tutorial. We designed it as an introductory course on CSA cements, including laboratory experiments. It may be inserted very easily into a professor’s current course.”

For more information, visit www.ctsalliance.org.