At the level of Arab and international universities, Yarmouk University represented by the branch team of the American Concrete Institute at Al-Hijjawi Faculty of Engineering Technology gained the second place in the Concrete Solutions Competition organized by the American Concrete Institute and held in Florida, the United States of America.
33 universities from 15 countries around the world participated in thiscompetition, where Yarmouk University team presented a solution to the problem of building colonies on the surface of Mars by proposing the use of 3D printing technology for sulfur concrete with strong mechanical properties suitable for the environmental conditions on the Red Planet.
The supervisor of the team, Dr. Faris Matalkah, said that the idea introduced in the competition came from the global trend that aims at exploring the surface of Mars and the urgent need to develop a type of concrete that does not need water or cement. Thus, the proposal simulated the conditions of Mars through using available materials components that are rich in sulfur and combined 3D printing technology with the use of sulfur concrete. However, he added that winning such competitions represents an incentive for students and raises the reputation of the Faculty as well as university among international institutes, highlighting the role of students as a key partner in research and creativity. He then mentioned that the team includes a group of students, namely Sarah Obeidat, Ahmed Al-Amrah, Rama Marian, Ahmed Bani Younis, and Yasmine Safaqa,from the Civil Engineering Department, noting that the competition was attended by universities from several countries from the United States of America, Canada, India, Mexico, and the Arab World.
In their turn, Yarmouk participants expressed their happiness for winning the competition and articulated their pride for being the only Arab team that qualified for the final stage, emphasizing that the competition encouraged them to think creatively and develop their research and practical skills, and opened prospects to participate in international competitions organized by prestigious international institutes and universities.
Noteworthy here is that the student branch of the American Concrete Institute at Yarmouk University was established in 2019 in the Civil Engineering Department at Yarmouk University and that the team has previously participated in many local and international research competitions and achieved advanced positions, the last of which was the eighth place at the level of international universities in the environmentally friendly concrete competition that was held last year in USA. However, here is a video link of students' winning proposal:
