The Concrete Infrastructure Research Group (CIRG) welcomed several new members in October. Nishangani will work towards a PhD, with Grace and Zoe working towards the fourth year of their MEng degrees. Nishangani, Grace and Zoe will focus on different challenges facing concrete infrastructure, including embodied carbon and material utilisation. Our new members were asked their thoughts on future work and on joining the CIRG:
“I am interested in capturing the effect of layer orientation on the interfacial bond characteristics in functionally layered concrete members and their overall mechanical behaviour. I am fascinated by the phenomenal performance and outstanding research work of the Concrete Infrastructure Research Group of the University of Cambridge. My interest in learning, discovering new things, and conducting physical experiments inspired me to pursue my research under CIRG” - Nishangani Gowrikanthan
“I’m hoping to focus on the durability performance of functionally graded concrete in my fourth-year project. I’m really excited about joining CIRG as I’m really excited to get involved in some of the research working towards reducing embodied carbon of concrete infrastructure. I’m really looking forward to getting into the lab and getting stuck into casting some concrete” - Grace Blackshaw
“I am interested in increasing material utilisation in concrete beams. In current design practice, the same concrete mix is typically used throughout a structural element which leads to inefficient material utilisation. This inefficiency could be mitigated by approximating a more optimal beam shape by concrete volumes being poured at specific areas, as well as removing excess concrete” - Zoe Kite