Several CEE at Illinois faculty, both past and present, and students were honored at the Spring 2026 American Concrete Institute (ACI) Concrete Convention on March 29 - April 1 in Chicago, Ill.
During the convention opening session, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Professor Emeritus David Lange was elevated to ACI Honorary Member for "exemplary teaching and research in the field of concrete materials, invaluable student mentoring, and passionate service to ACI".
First elected in 1926, ACI Honorary Members are selected on the criteria of being a person of eminence in the field of the Institute's interest or one who has performed extraordinary meritorious service to the Institute.
Lange joined CEE at Illinois faculty in 1992. From 2005-2020, he served as the Director of the Center of Excellence for Airport Technology (CEAT), a research center funded by the Federal Aviation Administration and the O'Hare Modernization Program. Lange is a fellow of the American Concrete Institute and a fellow of the American Ceramic Society. In addition to being a longtime member Lange served as president of ACI from 2018-19.
In accepting his recognition as ACI Honorary Member, Lange acknowledged the impact CEE faculty members Francis Young and Leslie Struble had on his career, and especially the mentorship of Neil Hawkins early in his career when joining the CEE faculty at Illinois in the 1990s.
CEE at Illinois has also had an enduring impact on ACI; in addition to Lange serving as president, since the first president in 1930, more than 20 of its 103 presidents have been faculty or alumni from Illinois.
Nishant Garg, CEE at Illinois associate professor, was also honored at the convention, receiving the ACI Young Member Award for Professional Achievement for "contributions to the development of analytical techniques for concrete characterization, and for training numerous young researchers”.
In addition to his accolades from ACI, Garg was also part of a collaboration with Meta and Amrize that was recognized with a 2025 Slag Cement in Sustainable Concrete Project of the Year award for the Meta AI-Designed Mix for the Rosemount Data Center in Minnesota. Presented by the Slag Cement Association in the Lower Carbon Concrete category, the award highlights a project that brought together university research, artificial intelligence, and industry implementation to advance more sustainable concrete construction.
Garg’s graduate students were also ACI award winners in student competitions, with Bayezid Baten winning an oral presentation award, Kyle Kim receiving a poster presentation award, and Vania Moreno-Colin received the ACI Foundation Future Concrete Industry Leader Fellowship.
ACI is a non-profit organization and leading authority and resource worldwide for the development, distribution and adoption of consensus-based standards, technical resources, educational programs, and proven expertise for individuals and organizations involved in concrete design, construction, and materials, who share a commitment to pursuing the best use of concrete.