Austin likes model train building, swimming, and Boy Scouts. He also serves on his school's student council. His career aspirations include being the president of the United States or working at job in public service. "One reason I want to be the president is I'd like to help with world peace," he says.
Mrs. Nancy Owen, the science fair coordinator for Hazel Grove Elementary School, is Austin's mentor. "She encouraged me to enter the science fair," he says.
While watching his dad repair the garage floor with latex concrete patch, Austin asked what the difference was between latex concrete and ordinary concrete. His father said it bonded better to the original concrete and was supposed to be stronger. Austin wondered if the latex in the concrete patch was the same as that found in paint. He decided to test whether adding leftover paint to concrete would make it more durable and would increase the compression strength of masonry mortar. This would not only improve the cement, but also eliminate the hazardous waste problem of paint in landfills.
Austin created three test mixes. The first served as a control and had the proper mix of 1,500 milliliters of masonry cement and 350 milliliters of water. The second mix substituted 75 milliliters of water with paint, and the third mix substituted 125 milliliters of water with the paint. Each of the mixes was poured into round cardboard forms to create "concrete hockey pucks." Austin allowed the pucks to cure and harden for 21 days and then tested them for compression strength using a hydraulic tester. He found that the compression strength of masonry mortar increased when 10 - 40 percent of the water was substituted with latex paint.
