The Sustainable Construction and Building Materials (SCBM) Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) Surathkal, recently organized a two-day collaborative workshop and capacity building programme on 'Durability and Sustainability of Concrete'. The event commenced on Thursday and brought together 11 resource persons from eight premier engineering institutions across India to enhance research and practical applications related to long-lasting, environmentally friendly concrete.
Inaugural Ceremony Highlights
The inaugural function was held at the NITK campus and presided over by Subhash Chandra Yaragal, Deputy Director of NITK Surathkal. The chief guest, LP Singh, Director General of the National Council of Cement and Building Materials (NCCBM), delivered a speech emphasizing national priorities for durable and sustainable concrete research. Shashank Bishnoi, Deputy Director of IIT Delhi's Abu Dhabi campus, attended as the guest of honour.
Addressing Infrastructure Challenges
The workshop targeted a persistent issue in India's construction sector: the premature degradation of concrete infrastructure, which often leads to repeated repairs, reconstruction, and unnecessary expenditure. Technical sessions covered a wide range of topics, including durability mechanisms, sustainable and low-carbon binders, service life prediction and performance-based design, corrosion and degradation in reinforced concrete, circular economy approaches, 3D concrete printing, and the utilization of industrial byproducts.
Participating Institutions and Support
Faculty experts from IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras, IIT Bombay, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Roorkee, IIT Jodhpur, and Thapar University Patiala actively participated, along with the NCCBM Director General. The event was supported by the L&T-sponsored MTech (CMT) programme project of NITK, NCCBM, and UltraTech Cement. The workshop was coordinated by B B Das, with Rajasekaran C serving as co-coordinator.
Global Linkages and Future Events
Organized in association with IIT Delhi, NCCBM, and IIT Madras, the programme also served as a pre-conference event for the International Congress on Chemistry of Cement (ICCC 2027), scheduled to be held in New Delhi. This connection links Indian researchers to a global forum, fostering international collaboration in cement and concrete research.
