ESCSI Announces 2024-25 John Ries Scholarship Winner

ESCSI is proud to announce Mujtaba Ahmadi, a PhD student in structural engineering at the University of Oklahoma, as the recipient of the John Ries Scholarship for the 2024-25 academic year. In 2019, Mr. Ahmadi was awarded a Fulbright scholarship and, in 2021, he completed his master’s degree in structural engineering at the University of Oklahoma.

Mr. Ahmadi’s Ph.D. research is regarding “Enhancing Shrinkage Resistance in Calcium Sulfoaluminate (CSA) Cement Concrete and Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) Through Internal Curing”. The primary research objective is to explore the application of internal curing agents, particularly lightweight aggregate, for improving hydration and mitigating the early age (autogenous and chemical) and long-term (drying) shrinkage of CSA cement concrete, and potentially UHPC. LWA has a high potential to supply the required water for cement hydration while mitigating autogenous and drying shrinkage of the concrete.

Mr. Ahmadi worked closely with Associate Professor Royce Floyd, P.E., S.E., Ph.D, as both a graduate research assistant and teaching assistant. Dr. Floyd had this to say about Mr. Ahmadi:

“Mujtaba has a proven intellectual curiosity, and I believe he has great potential for innovation and future discovery.” He continued, “I have enjoyed my time working with Mujtaba over the last four years or so and getting to see not only his growth as an engineer, but also his growth as a person. It is clear to me that he has a true desire to use what he has and will learn at OU to better the lives of people, both in the U.S. and around the world.”