Concrete has been an essential in construction since 300 BC, when the ancient Romans used it to build their architectural marvels. For just as long, concrete shrinkage, which causes the cracks you see in cement structures, has presented a challenge. Only in the last couple of decades have concrete suppliers turned to shrinkage-reducing additives (SRA) to minimize shrinking and the associated damage. With a relatively new player entering the massive global concrete market (over $700 billion in 2020), Airable recognized an opportunity: a soy-based SRA for concrete applications. Airable researcher Alex Shand has been working on an SRA using soy fatty acid derivatives. He added the mixture to a concrete sample and is comparing the results to a second sample that contains a commercial (non-soy-based) SRA. So far, the results are promising!