Clarkson University Senior Awarded National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

Abigail Kienzle ‘23, a Civil Engineering major and member of the Honors Program at Clarkson University, has been awarded the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF).

The prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship will provide financial support for Kienzle to complete her Ph.D. at an institution of her choosing. Her proposal focuses on characterizing the hydration reactions for limestone calcined clay cements (LC3), which are a sustainable and lower-carbon alternative to traditional cements.

Her research will answer basic questions about how LC3 cements harden, how the underlying processes can be controlled to produce desirable behavior for construction, and how this can help achieve a new generation of resilient and sustainable civil infrastructure.

"I hope my work both now and in the future will promote more sustainable use of concrete, creating a positive impact on global crises that threaten the future of humanity," Kienzle said, in keeping with the guiding principle of Clarkson's Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering, "Technology Serving Humanity."

Kienzle completed her Honor's Thesis on the solidification behavior of rapid-setting calcium sulfoaluminate cements with Assistant Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering Robert Thomas.

Kienzle’s research was featured in a co-authored publication in Construction and Building Materials in 2022 and she presented her work twice at the biannual American Concrete Institute (ACI) Convention, the leading venue for cement and concrete research in North America. In 2022 she was awarded the prestigious ACI Concrete Practitioner Fellowship. During her time at Clarkson, Kienzle also completed three summer internships and worked weekly shifts at the Writing Center. She was active in Clarkson's Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, serving as President in 2022, and was a captain of the ASCE Concrete Canoe team.