Christian Meyer, professor of Civil Engineering, left, and graduate student Gregor Vilkner exhibit samples of glass concrete, which will be on display at the open house on Nov. 30

The Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics will host an open house on Nov. 30 to display its new building materials, including glass concrete, a special type of concrete made entirely out of recycled waste glass. The department will also celebrate the signing of research and licensing agreements with Echo Environmental, Inc., a start-up firm that will commercialize the new building materials developed at Columbia.

The open house will take place on Nov. 30 between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the Robert A.W. Carleton Strength of Materials Laboratory, 161 Engineering Terrace. At 11:30 a.m. there will be brief welcoming addresses by Zvi Galil, dean of the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Christian Meyer, professor of Civil Engineering and the principal investigator for the research team.

For more than five years, engineering researchers at Columbia have been developing attractive, inexpensive concrete materials that meet the strength needs of builders and also make use of such recycled materials as waste glass and dredge materials from New York Harbor.

"Markets for recycled glass have been limited-and almost nonexistent-for many years, but we are trying to change that with the development of glass concrete products, which Echo Environmental is planning to commercialize," said Christian Meyer. "I've already placed an order to have my driveway repaved with glass concrete paving stones."

In addition to glass concrete, other new materials that will be on display are: architectural concrete and gypsum products that have the appearance of natural stone; lightweight concrete that combines the advantages of thermal and sound insulation properties with reduced weight, while offering adequate strength and durability; fiber-reinforced concrete with greatly improved fracture resistant properties and energy absorption capacity compared with regular concrete; and concrete material made from New York Harbor dredge mud. Echo Environmental is funding a major research project to develop the technology to contain the heavy metals and numerous toxins found in this mud in order to ensure that the building material is environmentally safe.

The mission to create and find a market for this contaminated dredge material-turned-concrete was one of the driving forces behind the incorporation of Echo Environmental, Inc. The company, which was founded in May 1999 with the assistance of Columbia Innovation Enterprise, was established specifically to commercialize the new material technologies developed at Columbia. The company has signed two research funding contracts and two licensing agreements for the patents and other intellectual property associated with the Columbia technology.

The Open House will feature more than 10 hands-on exhibits of concrete materials products and materials. It is expected that representatives of local builders, developers, architects, engineers, material recyclers, concrete producers, as well as state and local governmental agencies, will attend.