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Updated: March 5, 2025 @ 11:16 am
Jakob Burckhard
News Director
Jakob Burckhard
{KXLG – Brookings, SD} South Dakota State University sophomore Jakob Burckhard has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship for his innovative ideas on advancing sustainable practices within the concrete industry. Burckhard, a Concrete Industry Management major from Brookings, was recognized by CarbonCure, a carbon solutions technology firm serving the concrete industry.
CarbonCure selected Burckhard as one of five essay winners. According to Tim Hostettler, director of the SDSU Concrete Industry Management program, his winning essay focused on sustainable development in concrete, impressing the CarbonCure selection panel.
Hostettler stated, “CarbonCure is one of the industry leaders in the sustainable concrete movement. Jakob’s enthusiasm about sustainable development using concrete resonates with them. He wrote an excellent essay on the topic, which was recognized by the CarbonCure panel among the dozens of other essays they received as being one of the best they have seen.”
Hostettler further noted the program’s success, highlighting that Burckhard is the second SDSU Concrete Industry Management student to receive this honor, following 2024 alumna Emma Roth who won in both 2023 and 2024. “We are very proud of Jakob and excited to see what he will accomplish in the future,” Hostettler added.
In his award-winning essay, Burckhard outlined his interest in researching and implementing new sources of supplemental cementitious materials, beyond the current industry reliance on fly ash, slag, and silica fume. He wrote, “I would like to help find new sources of supplemental cementitious materials (currently primarily fly ash, slag and silica fume) and figure out the best ways to utilize them in the concrete industry. This would be a continuation of some of the work I am doing this semester in my advanced concrete materials course.”
Burckhard detailed his coursework in developing low-carbon concrete mixes and creating environmental product declarations, noting his enjoyment in the laboratory work: “In that course, we are currently learning how to develop low-carbon mixes and how to write environmental product declarations to go with them. This is something that I found to be quite enjoyable. I find myself looking forward to spending time in the lab making and testing mix designs, trying to tweak the design a bit to achieve better results.”
Burckhard also emphasized the inherent sustainability of concrete structures due to their resilience, low maintenance requirements, and long lifespans. He concluded, “I do not know of a perfect building material, but I do know that concrete is the closest to being just that.”
The SDSU Concrete Industry Management program was established with the support of the Concrete Industry Management National Steering Committee and its North Central Region patrons. SDSU is the fifth U.S. university to offer this program and the first in the 12-state Upper Midwest region. These groups are providing SDSU with $1.5 million over five years to support the degree program. The program’s first graduate was in May 2024, with subsequent graduates in December 2024 and another expected in May 2025.
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