E. Ivan Diaz-Loya Receives ASTM International Katharine and Bryant Mather Scholarship

E. Ivan Diaz-Loya, a Ph.D. candidate and research assistant at the Trenchless Technology Center at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, La., is the recipient of the 2010 ASTM International Katharine and Bryant Mather Scholarship. Sponsored by ASTM International Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates, the scholarship is presented each year to undergraduate or graduate students who are pursuing degrees specializing in cement or concrete materials technology or concrete construction.

A graduate of Chihuahua Institute of Technology, Chihuahua, Mexico, where he earned a bachelor's degree in materials engineering, Diaz-Loya's current research focuses on characterizing new types of environmentally friendly concrete such as geopolymer concrete. After completing his doctoral program at Louisiana Tech, he plans to continue working on the development of sustainable construction materials based on recycled solid wastes.

A member of the North American Society for Trenchless Technology and the American Concrete Institute, Diaz-Loya has also received scholarships from Mexico's National Council on Science and Technology and NASTT. He completed an undergraduate internship in the R&D department at GCC Cement in Chihuahua, Mexico, and had his paper, "Factors Affecting the Suitability of Fly Ash as Source Material for Geopolymers," published in the scientific journal, Fuel, The Science and Technology of Fuel and Energy.

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