ACI’s Adaptive and Resilient Future

3/2/2026

When I introduce concrete to undergraduate students in my classes, I often joke that you can make anything out of concrete except food. Concrete is an incredibly adaptable material not only in shape, form, and purpose, but also in component materials, processing and fabrication methods, and delivery. As a concrete community, we have an incredible capacity to adapt to serve the industry. As ACI President, this year has taught me a lot about adaptability and resilience in both the concrete industry and in the organizations that support it.

One thing I have loved about being ACI President is the opportunity to connect with members across the world and hear their thoughts and ideas. Resilience has been a recurring theme in the conferences and meetings that I have attended this year. I seem to hear this word everywhere lately. Resilience is not a new concept to seismic structural engineers because they have always assessed and valued the ability of structures to stay in service following an earthquake. What does it mean beyond natural hazards, and why is it being used so much right now? In general, resilience is the ability to recover, adapt, and adjust after a change or disturbance. Durable structures and materials can be considered resilient because they do not degrade over time due to environmental exposure. Resilient structures are sustainable because they do not need new materials and construction for replacement. Resilience captures many of our values and aspirations for concrete structures in one term, leading to a shift in how we are using it.

We would like to think of ACI as being adaptive and resilient, and maybe we can apply some lessons from concrete design for resiliency within our organization. What does it take to be resilient as an organization? By definition, it takes an ability to recover, adapt, and adjust after a change or disturbance. I would take this a step further and think about how we can anticipate changes or disturbances to proactively adapt. ACI’s growing globalization is just one example of how it is anticipating change. ACI is anticipating global demand for concrete knowledge by expanding its international affairs department into the Asia-Pacific region and Latin and South America, as I described in my September 2025 President’s Memo. ACI is using its Resource Centers to train chapters and sponsoring group officers from around the world in certifications and is working with The Institute for Concrete Technology (ICT) to adapt certifications to European standards to increase their global reach, as I mentioned in my August 2025 President’s Memo.

Looking toward the future, ACI recognizes that its codes and standards need to adapt to keep pace with new technologies and growing demand, as reflected in the work of a new Board of Direction Task Group on Code Envisioning—discussed in the February 2026 President’s Memo. As we head into the future, we are exploring how members engage with ACI (the member experience), how the various parts of ACI communicate with each other to enhance the creation and dissemination of knowledge, and how we can provide our members with professional mentoring and networking opportunities. I am honored to have been a part of guiding ACI this year toward a bright, adaptive, and resilient future. Thank you so much for your support this year and for your own continued service to ACI and its mission of advancing concrete knowledge.

Maria C.G. Juenger

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