Student Competition

UHPC Student Competition Announcement

As part of the 4th International Interactive Symposium on Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC), a student competition will be held to grow interest in UHPC amongst engineering and architectural students.

The competition is open to students across the world.

The basic premise of the competition is the design and testing of an aesthetically pleasing and structurally efficient UHPC flexural element (using proprietary, self-developed, or 3D printed mix designs) that will be evaluated using the guidelines in this document.

The student teams are encouraged to consider innovative uses of UHPC in their analysis and design methods. The teams are also encouraged to develop aesthetically pleasing UHPC flexural elements.

For the competition, UHPC is defined as concrete with fibers (steel or non-metallic fibers) with a minimum compressive strength of 17.5 ksi (120 MPa) and a minimum volumetric fiber content of 1%.

The competition is comprised of two phases:

Phase-I consists of a proposal submitted by the student team to the Student Competition committee.

Qualified teams will be invited to participate in Phase-II of the competition, which includes on-site testing of the UHPC flexural element at the Symposium, a poster presentation, and a video describing the team’s journey toward the final phase.

STUDENT TEAMS:

A student team can consist of 2-4 students. All team members must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at a University or College. One entry per team is permitted. Team representatives are expected to participate in the symposium to compete in Phase-II. Significantly reduced registration and accommodation will be provided to students participating only in the competition. They can also attend the symposium activities.

Each student team must have a faculty mentor. The mentor can provide advice and
assistance to the student team.

HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION:

Interested student teams should apply for the student competition using the following link: https://forms.gle/pa79cVqzUX9kSeLL7

At least two student team members should be listed in the application. The students should indicate their University or College affiliation, select a team name, and designate a faculty mentor. An email address should be provided for correspondence. Student teams must submit their application by January 31st
, 2026.

TIMELINE AND KEY DEADLINES:

Phase-I  Deadlines
Application Saturday, January 31st, 2026
Submission of Proposal Sunday, March 1st, 2026
Notice of Finalists Tuesday, March 31st, 2026
Phase-II Deadlines
Submission of Video Monday, June 1st, 2026
Symposium Attendance Sunday, June 14 – Wednesday, June 17, 2026
On-Site Competition Tuesday, June 16th, 2026

UHPC MATERIAL RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS:

The student teams are advised that the following companies have expressed willingness to donate a limited supply of UHPC materials, fibers, or premixes to competing student teams.

The student teams can also use other providers or develop their own mix design.

The student teams may have to cover shipping cost of the materials. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list of suppliers and student teams are not in any way required to use materials from these suppliers.

Suppliers who are willing to add their names to this list, can contact 4iisuhpc.student.competition@gmail.com.

Company/Provider/Material Contact Email
Owen Corning (Fibers) Matthew Offenberg Matthew.Offenberg@owenscorning.com
SteelikeTM UHPC (UHPC premix) Bill Kulish bill@steelike.com
Facca Incorporated (UHPC premix) Philip Loh philip@facca.com
Tindall Corp. (UHPC materials, and fabrication) Farshad Shokrgozar FarshadShokrgozar@tindallcorp.com
Ductal UHPC by Amrize (UHPC premix) Greg Nault Gregory.nault@amrize.com
ceEntek North America (UHPC premix) Peter Weber Usa@ceEntek.com

REQUIREMENTS FOR DESIGN OF UHPC ELEMENT:

  1. For this competition, UHPC has a minimum compressive strength of 17.5 ksi (120 MPa) and contains steel or non-metallic fibers.
  2. The UHPC element can be a beam, an arch, or a combination thereof, with solid or hollow cross-section.
  3. Any UHPC element shape can be used.
  4. The UHPC element must fit within an 8 in. x 8 in. x 39.5 in. (203 mm x 203 mm x 1,003 mm) box.
  5. The UHPC element must have a minimum length of 37.5 in. (952.5 mm).
  6. The UHPC element will be subjected to a three-point bending test and loaded at an approximate rate of 0.3 in./minute (7.6 mm/minute) until it reaches the ultimate load. Loading will continue until failure or until the load drops by 20%.
  7. Support center-to-support center distance shall be 34 in. (864 mm).
  8. The weight of the UHPC element must not exceed 100 lbs. (45.36 kg).
  9. The UHPC element can be made with a proprietary UHPC mix, 3D printing, or use a UHPC mix developed by the student team. The UHPC mix must have a volumetric fiber content between 1% and 4%.
  10. The student teams can use straight fibers, hooked fibers, deformed fibers, or combinations thereof. Steel or non-metallic fibers can be used.
  11. The UHPC element can include longitudinal steel, FRP reinforcing bars, strands, and/or wire reinforcement. Prestressing is not permitted.
  12. Reinforcement, if used, must be embedded in the UHPC element with a minimum clear cover of 0.5 in. (12.7 mm). The longitudinal reinforcing bar/strand/wire area shall not exceed 0.35 in2 (225.8 mm2).
  13. Transverse (shear) reinforcement is not permitted.
  14. The UHPC element shall be designed to a target ultimate load of 16 k (71.2 kN). The ultimate load may not exceed 24 k (106.8 kN).
  15. Teams will be judged on creativity, aesthetics, and performance. See judging criteria below.

Phase-I: Proposal:

The proposal shall not exceed 7 pages and submitted in pdf format to the committee by the deadline of March 1st, 2026. Submission instructions will be provided to the student teams that apply to participate in the competition. An example template is available to download here. Teams should follow the template format, but they can organize and rearrange the technical information as they see fit.
The proposal must include the following information:

  1. A cover page with the student names, affiliation, contact information, and name of faculty mentor.
  2. The design details, shape, size, and weight of the UHPC element. The decision process must be discussed, and drawings of the cross-section(s) and elevation of the element must be provided.
  3. A table with information about the UHPC mix design, fibers and content, and reinforcing bars or wires (if present). Omit proprietary information.
  4. A table with (i) compressive strength results obtained using appropriate standards; (ii) tensile strength results obtained using analytical, numerical, or experimental methods; (iii) flow test results per appropriate methods; and (iv) tensile test results (or manufacturer values) for reinforcing bars, strands, or wires (if applicable).
  5. A narrative must be included to describe the analytical predictions and design calculations. The proposal should demonstrate that the UHPC element can meet the load and weight requirements explained on page 4.
  6. Using the UHPC material properties, the student team must employ a structural analysis method to calculate: (1) the cracking load and corresponding deflection, (2) the ultimate load and corresponding deflection, and (3) the ultimate deflection corresponding to a post-peak load drop of 20%.
  7. Based on the unit costs on page 7, provide a breakdown of the total cost of the UHPC element.
  8. The teams are encouraged to highlight and illustrate innovations in analysis methods, UHPC mix design, casting or 3D printing procedures, fiber alignment considerations, architectural features, ductility, curing preparations, or any other concepts involved in the design process.

Phase-II: Onsite Testing, Poster, Video:

Student teams invited to attend and compete at the Symposium must bring the following items:

  1. Three (3) 2 in. (50 mm) cubes for compressive strength testing;
  2. The proposed UHPC element for the three-point bending test; and
  3. A poster to present their proposal to the competition judges and the symposium attendees. The poster shall be no greater than 48 in. x 72 in. (1,220 mm x 1,830 mm).

In addition. the student teams should submit a short video (duration less than 5 min.) to showcase the team’s journey toward Phase-II. The video must be submitted by June 1st, 2026, in mp4 format. Submission instructions shall be provided to the qualified teams.

JUDGING CRITERIA:

The entries shall be judged in different categories (300 points in total). The breakdown of scoring is explained as follows:

  1. Phase-I Proposal (50 points). The proposal shall be judged based on the following criteria:
    • Does it meet all requirements on page 5? (15 points)
    • Is it well organized, including introduction, body paragraphs, conclusions, and a logical flow of information with high-quality figures and tables? (15 points)
    • Are the structural analysis methods well articulated and predictions justified? (10 points)
    • Are there any innovations in modeling approaches, UHPC mix design, or other concepts related to casting methods, fiber alignment considerations, curing methods, materials, architectural features, of other design aspects? (10 points)
  1. Phase-II Compressive Strength (30 points): The points shall be assigned as a ratio of the following benchmarks:
    • Samples achieving 17.5 ksi (120.7 MPa) will receive a minimum of 20 points.
    • Samples achieving 22.0 ksi (151.7 Mpa) will receive 25 points.
    • Samples achieving 26.0 ksi (179.3 Mpa) or higher will receive 30 points.
    • Samples not reaching 17.5 ksi (120.7 MPa) will be penalized by 1 point for every 1 MPa (0.145 ksi) below 17.5 ksi (120.7 MPa).
  2. Design Accuracy (75 points): All entries should target an ultimate load of 16 k (71.2 kN). All the entries that meet this criterion will receive 25 points.
    • Entries < 16 k will be penalized by 2.0 points x (16 k – Ultimate load)^2.
    • Entries > 16 k will be penalized by 1.0 points x (Ultimate load – 16 k)^2.

The remaining 50 points shall be scored based on the following five criteria:

  • R1: Ratio of measured maximum load to specimen weight.
  • R2: Ratio of measured maximum load to predicted maximum load.
  • R3, R4, & R5: Ratios of measured-to-predicted mid-span deflections at cracking load (R3), maximum load (R4) and at a descending load reduced from the peak load by 20% (R5).

The team with the highest R1 value will score15 points.
The team with the R2 value closer to 1.0 will score 15 points.
The team with the R3 value closer to 1.0 will score 5 points.
The team with the R4 value closer to 1.0 will score 7.5 points.
The team with the R5 value closer to 1.0 will score 7.5 points.
Teams will score 2 points or less in descending order of rank (but no lower than 0.0 points in each sub-category).

  1. Aesthetics of the UHPC element (50 points).
  2. Poster presentation (30 points).
  3. Video (30 points).
  4. Material Costs (35 points): A total of 35 points will be assigned to the student team with the lowest material cost.

The following unit costs shall be used:
UHPC mix – $2,000/yd3
Fibers – $3.0/lb.
Steel bars – $0.80/lb.
Wire reinforcement – $0.75/lb.
FRP bars – $2.5/lb.
Strands – $1.2/lb.

The student team with the lowest UHPC element cost will score 35 points.
Teams will score 3 points or less in descending order of rank.

  1. Additional discretionary category. This category will be used in case of a tie between teams (10 points).

PRIZES:

Multiple prizes will be awarded, and the teams will be judged on various categories. The team placed first will also be awarded a Winner Trophy.

The values of the awarded prizes will be based on the entry’s placement in the competition. Prizes are also offered to the best proposal, best poster, and best video.

All teams qualified for Phase-II and participating in the on-site competition will receive a Certificate of Participation.

BEST PROPOSAL
The judges will select a “Best Proposal” winner for the Phase-I proposal that best demonstrates student learning, creativity in design, structural analysis and methods, UHPC innovations, and excellence in presentation.

BEST POSTER
All the teams invited for the Phase-II are asked to present a poster at the symposium. The posters will be judged by the symposium attendees.

BEST VIDEO
Students should submit a video (duration less than 5 min.) to highlight their experiences and preparation steps. A prize will be awarded to the most creative and entertaining video.

QUESTIONS
Any questions regarding the student competition should be directed to 4iisuhpc.student.competition@gmail.com.