February 17, 2024 | The Cool Down via UVic News
Rishi Gupta, an engineer and professor at the University of Victoria, is leading a team that is set on replacing cement with other sustainable binding materials. A move that could both transform the construction industry, and lower the world’s carbon pollution.
Taking geopolymer concrete, which is already in use in the construction industry, and using fly ash and coal ash, Gupta’s team has made it more sustainable. This is due to these ashes altering the concrete’s binding temperature to room temperature, as opposed to the heat that is usually required. Gupta explained that in reducing the temperature required for the concrete to cure, they have reduced the greenhouse gas emissions that occur during production. Which has resulted in a more sustainable concrete product.
Dr. Gupta is a civil engineering professor, as well as a member of the Facility for Innovative Materials and Infrastructure Monitoring. There, they address “issues related to managing infrastructure, including bridge structures, marine structures, pavements, and heritage structures.”
Dr. Rishi Gupta is also the director at the University of Victoria’s Centre for Advanced Materials & Related Technology. A research centre that is “committed to interdisciplinary work on advanced materials and technology.”
To learn more about the research that Dr. Gupta has been doing, check out his publications on UVic’s institutional repository, UVicSpace! Or, try searching for “sustainable concrete” in UVicSpace if you’d like to learn more about this research topic!
