Concrete evidence: Prof Mark Alexander, Mike Otieno and Dr Hans Beushausen show off their winnings for an article they published on corrosion-assessment methods for application in cracked concrete.

A team of UCT researchers has scooped the prestigious Wason Medal for Materials Research for 2012 from the American Concrete Institute (ACI).

Academics Professor Mark Alexander and Dr Hans Beushausen and PhD student Mike Otieno of the Department of Civil Engineering received the honour for their paper, Suitability of Various Measurement Techniques for Assessing Corrosion in Cracked Concrete, which appeared in the ACI Materials Journal in 2010.

The bronze medal award, which the ACI can but does not necessarily award annually, was founded in 1917 by Leonard Wason, past president of the ACI. It's awarded to a paper that presents either original research work on concrete materials and their uses, or a discovery that advances the state of knowledge of materials used in the construction industry.