This blog is dedicated to the dissemination of research related outreach products and is subdivided into a network of pages that might be used by students and educators at various levels from middle school to graduate studies.  My research interests include the characterization of chemical kinetic (reaction rate related) and micromechanical behavior of portland cement. While I do not consider myself to be a “modeler,” my recent research has focused on the collection of experimental datasets for use in multi-scale computational simulations, the development of a continuum-based model for hydration of pure hydraulic cement phases, i.e. tricalicum silicate, and Computer Aided Molecular Design (CAMD) of admixtures for improving the performance and reducing the environmental impact of using portland cement concrete as an infrastructure material.   Having recognized that simulation appears to be ahead of experimental validation, I emphasize the use of multi-scale approaches to develop phase resolved information for validation and development of models.

I received my BS in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 1980 and my MS and DRE (Doctor of Engineering) degrees from Cleveland State University in 1983 and 1988 respectively.  My professional experince includes a total of 30 years in industry and academia during which time I served for two years (1995-1997) as Director of Educational Programs for the Center for Advanced Cement Based Materials (ACBM) at Northwestern University.  I am presently Professor of Chemical Engineering at Tennessee Technological University (TTU), Cookeville, TN.

I hope you find the following sequence of web pages useful:

Cement Hydration Kinetics and Modeling

Computer Aided Molecular Design and the Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships

Remote Access to TTU X-ray Diffraction Laboratory

Biomass Pyrolysis Kinetics and Modeling

J. J. Biernacki, DRE, PE (jbiernacki@tntech.edu)

Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505