Professor Meyer Wins New York State Energy R&D Authority Grant
11/01/2008
Christian Meyer, Professor and Chairman of the Civil Engineering Department, has obtained a research grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority for a two-year study to develop a lightweight concrete wall panel for building envelopes with sufficient strength to carry all loads; of extraordinary light weight of about 50 lb/ft3, i.e. less than water; a very high thermal insulation capacity due to its low density, made possible by a special concrete mix formula; and good sound absorption within a large portion of the audible frequency spectrum.
The Columbia team is joined by Dr. Semyon Shimanovich, previously a Senior Research Scientist in the Department, now Senior Scientist of Concrete Scientific of Brooklyn, as well as Oldcastle Precast, a major precast concrete producer with worldwide production facilities. Dr. Rimas Vaicatis, Professor Emeritus of the Civil Engineering Department, serves as a consultant on acoustic aspects of the project.
