Recent Developments in Sustainable Infrastructure (eng)

Dr. Bibhuti Bhusan Das is currently serving as Associate Professor at National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Surathkal. Before joining NITK, he has served as Centre Head for National Institute of Construction Management and Research, Goa and Indore Campus. He has worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Civil Engineering at Lawrence Technological University, Southfield, Michigan, USA. His area of research focuses on the “Sustainability of Construction and Building Materials” such as microstructure characterization of materials, non-destructive testing of concrete structures, corrosion of reinforcement and durability studies on concrete and sustainability in construction project management. He is an Associate Member of American Concrete Institute and representing in the International Faculty Network Committee launched by the ACI Education Foundation in 2009.

Dr. Salim Barbhuiya is a Lecturer in Advanced Concrete Technology at the University of Leeds. He joined the University of Leeds in Sep 2018 after working as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering for 5 years at Curtin University Australia. Recognizing his outstanding contribution in advancing Curtin’s international reputation, public visibility and diversified resources he was awarded the PVC Award for Internationalization in 2015. Prior to that Dr. Barbhuiya worked as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in Queen's University Belfast (2009-10), University of the West of Scotland (2010-11) and Loughborough University (2011-12). He completed his Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from NIT Silchar, India (1999), Master’s in Structural Engineering from AIT, Thailand (2005) and obtained his PhD on Material Technology for Sustainable Concretes from Queen’s University Belfast (2009). Dr Barbhuiya's main area of research currently is on cement and concrete science with a key emphasis on the use of nanotechnology to characterize and improve their physical and durability properties. In particular, his research work includes studying the mechanisms of concrete deterioration at nanoscale level and relates this to the micro and macro level for engineering applications. His research interests also include improving the engineering and durability properties of geopolymer concrete leading to the development of Standard Specifications.

Dr. Rishi Gupta is an Associate Professor and Director of undergraduate program in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Victoria.  He received both his Master’s and PhD in Civil Engineering (Materials) from the University of British Columbia.  His current research is focused on studying the early-age behavior of cement-based composites containing SCMs and fibers.  His areas of interest include development of sustainable construction technologies, masonry structures, structural health monitoring, and non-destructive testing.  He has more than 15 years of combined academic and industry experience.  His industry experience includes working as the Director of Research of Octaform Systems Inc in Vancouver. Dr. Gupta is a Fellow of Engineers Canada and the past chair of the EGBC’s Burnaby/New West branch.  He is the Chair of the international affairs committee of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineering (CSCE).  He is a long standing member of the American Concrete Institute and is also a voting member of several subcommittees of ASTM C 09.

Dr. Purnachandra Saha received his Ph.D. from IIT Bombay and has 10 years of teaching experience. He is currently working as a senior associate professor in the school of civil engineering, KIIT Deemed to be University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. His areas of research are earthquake engineering, structural control, sustainable materials, green building and he has published 82 research articles to date. He has also worked in a multinational company (mainly design of industrial structure before completing his doctoral degree) for about eight years. He is a member of ASCE and The Faculty Advisor of ASCE KIIT University Student Chapter. He is also a Life member of Institute of Engineers (India), Member of National Information Centre of Earthquake Engineering, E-Affiliate member of Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), and Member of American Concrete Institute (ACI). He is an editorial board member and a reviewer for a number of national and international journals.