Jul 29, 2026 · 42 min · 9 segments
In this episode, Palash Badjatya, a data scientist at Verifi, and Sasan Dolati, PhD, a structural engineer at Stantec, join the podcast to discuss their unique paths into the concrete industry and how…
Sasan DolatiGuest
Plus, why- what was y- the college experience like for those that are listening to us and, or watching us? How can you describe that? Did you join any student clubs like ACI student chapter on, or ASCE? And how these experience enhance your academic involvement? And overall, do you recommend any student that if they are here, the audience of us, that they should seek these groups or be active in these groups? As a person that, who is active right now in industry, how do you see those, those involvement in your current situation?
I had done a couple of projects, but I had, I had not been really aware of ACI.
I'd heard my professor talk about it, but yeah, at that point, yeah, we didn't have any specific concrete-related clubs.
There was a student chapter, an ACI student chapter there that was pretty active.
There were monthly discussions, monthly seminars that got me more involved in concrete, more aware of what was out there.
And I would say that, that was, that was the beginning of a second phase for me in the world of concrete.
Because at this point, I'm interacting with others, other students, other professionals who, who are working with concrete, and I had this tremendous opportunity to learn from them.
So we had a great infrastructure through the student chapter there in terms of, uh, uh, in terms of providing opportunities and funding, especially for travel to these conferences.
Yeah, I think, yeah, that was, that, that was, like, the formative experience for me, I would say, when it comes to the world of concrete or the broader world of concrete.
So yeah, my, my concrete journey, while it did not begin during undergrad, it did begin during my grad school.
But yeah, going to ACI at that time, I did see a lot of undergrads, even from University of Illinois, who were involved in competitions like Concrete Canoe or some of the ACI-specific competitions the mortar work of the bowling ball competitions.
So there's, there are definitely opportunities for undergraduate students to be involved as well.
Whether or not they're doing research, just if they're interested in playing around with concrete and, yeah, competing with other students from all over the world, there are definitely many opportunities available.
Plus, why- what was y- the college experience like for those that are listening to us and, or watching us? How can you describe that? Did you join any student clubs like ACI student chapter on, or ASCE? And how these experience enhance your academic involvement? And overall, do you recommend any student that if they are here, the audience of us, that they should seek these groups or be active in these groups? As a person that, who is active right now in industry, how do you see those, those involvement in your current situation?
I had done a couple of projects, but I had, I had not been really aware of ACI.
I'd heard my professor talk about it, but yeah, at that point, yeah, we didn't have any specific concrete-related clubs.
There was a student chapter, an ACI student chapter there that was pretty active.
There were monthly discussions, monthly seminars that got me more involved in concrete, more aware of what was out there.
And I would say that, that was, that was the beginning of a second phase for me in the world of concrete.
Because at this point, I'm interacting with others, other students, other professionals who, who are working with concrete, and I had this tremendous opportunity to learn from them.
So we had a great infrastructure through the student chapter there in terms of, uh, uh, in terms of providing opportunities and funding, especially for travel to these conferences.
Yeah, I think, yeah, that was, that, that was, like, the formative experience for me, I would say, when it comes to the world of concrete or the broader world of concrete.
So yeah, my, my concrete journey, while it did not begin during undergrad, it did begin during my grad school.
But yeah, going to ACI at that time, I did see a lot of undergrads, even from University of Illinois, who were involved in competitions like Concrete Canoe or some of the ACI-specific competitions the mortar work of the bowling ball competitions.
So there's, there are definitely opportunities for undergraduate students to be involved as well.
Whether or not they're doing research, just if they're interested in playing around with concrete and, yeah, competing with other students from all over the world, there are definitely many opportunities available.
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