About the Center

The vision of this Center is to become the aggregate industries’ hub of excellence for research, education, and innovation in sustainability and to advance these industries to the forefront of a global circular economy. As the U.S. and worldwide construction industries continue to grow and evolve within the context of sustainability, this Center will reinvigorate this critical industry into the U.S. economy.

The mission of the Center is: 1) to engage local, state, and federal governments with industry and education to advance sustainable practices in aggregate production; 2) to accelerate processes that minimize waste and by-product production; 3) to quantify geochemical processes and reactions that detrimentally impact aggregate performance; 4) to stimulate research that recycles or upcycles the current and future stocks of waste and by-products; 5) to modernize the aggregate industries into a leader in global circular economy practices; 6) to ensure aggregate performance for building sustainable and resilient infrastructure; and 7) to integrate the needs of industry with academic expertise in order to drive economic development and competitiveness. 

The focus of the Center for Aggregate Research, Geochemistry, and Technology will involve two directions: 1) Research and Innovation and 2) Education and Outreach. 

Research and Innovation

The Center for AggReGaTe will focus on five Thrust Areas of research and innovation:

1. Production and Utilization. All aggregate producers are faced with challenges of utilizing 100% of their product, as inevitably material by-products are generated as screenings, pond fines, and/or baghouse dusts, and the amount of unused by-product may increase as gradation requirements become stricter. This Thrust Area will focus on research into: 1) value-added applications of new and existing quarry by-products; 2) best practices for optimized usage of local and/or marginal aggregates in construction; 3) economical and efficient processes or methodologies to reduce the generation of quarry by-products; 4) optimized efficiency across the plant, such as economical and efficient processes or methodologies to conserve energy, water, and land; 5) efficient processes to de-water pond fines; and 6) optimized utilization to relate quarry location and project location with aggregate cost, quality, and performance. 
2. Sustainability. The aggregate industry, like all modern industries, is faced with challenges of sustainability and climate change mitigation, but what does sustainability represent to the industry? This Thrust Area will focus on research into: 1) development and implementation of a life cycle analysis tool for aggregates; 2) quantification of the carbon footprint of the industry, including methodologies to accurately estimate the carbon output of individual quarries; 3) opportunities for carbon mineralization in aggregates; and 4) technologies for carbon sequestration at aggregate plants. 
3. Innovative Applications. The aggregate industry needs to innovate into new applications as it moves into the future, particularly with regard to Thrust Areas #1 and #2. This Thrust Area will focus on research into: 1) enhanced weathering opportunities for agriculture and other markets; 2) inverted pavements; 3) self-cementing unbound pavements; and 4) novel applications proposed by faculty affiliated with the center. 
4. Future Technologies. The world is moving into a fourth industrial revolution, including so-called Construction 4.0 and Industry 4.0, but where is the talk about Aggregate 4.0? This Thrust Area will focus on research into: 1) self-driving vehicles at quarries and aggregate plants; 2) application of drone technologies in the aggregate industry; 3) computer vision for real-time stockpile management, inventory status, and gradation analysis; 4) integration of robotics at aggregate plants; 5) digital twin applications during aggregate production or during construction; 6) cyber-physical processing systems for aggregate plants; and 7) artificial intelligence for quarry management and planning.  
5. Test Method Development. Rapid, reliable, and economic test methods are critical to the aggregate industry and both new and old test methods need consideration. In addition, basic science on the reaction mechanisms should be performed to mechanistically link the test method to real-world performance. This Thrust Area will focus on research into: 1) development of pyrrhotite- and pyrite-induced expansion in concrete; and 2) quantitative test methods for short-term and long-term carbon mineralization.

Education and Outreach

Workforce development is a common theme mentioned during surveys and interviews with professionals in the industry. One of the prime benefits of joining the center is to have access to high quality students and researchers. NSF reports that more than 2,000 students are involved in IUCRCs nationwide every year and that around 30% of these students get hired by the industry members of the center.

Research projects sponsored by the center will host virtual progress update meetings every two to three months and there will be two in-person meetings every year. Industry members get direct interaction with the students involved in the projects through these meetings, allowing for mentoring, guidance, training, and networking. 

The center will also host networking opportunities for undergraduate students, including an undergraduate research symposium during the in-person meetings. The center will also host a job and intership board, where industry members can directly seek to recruit undergraduate and graduate talent.