This State-of-the-Art survey award will send Professors Surendra Shah and J. Francis Young, of the Advanced Cement-Based Materials Center at Northwestern University, to Japan to survey university, government, and industrial laboratories for advances in cement- based materials and concrete construction and to investigate future cooperation and exchanges of researchers. Japan's public sector and construction industry spend considerably more on research and development than do their United States counterparts, resulting in significant advances over the past twenty years such as super- plasticizers. The two investigators intend to explore possible arrange ments for U.S. faculty members and post-docs to spend time in Japanese research institutes.
