Prof. Manu Santhanam
Professor: Department of Civil Engineering
Keynote address, IIBCC 2024: Special
Abstract
India is seeing a fast-paced infrastructure development. New port and airport terminals, along with national highways with several bridges, high-speed rail, and urban transportation, including elevated and underground train networks, are being constructed across the country. A dominant feature in most projects is the use of extensive amounts of special concrete. This presentation will focus on the state of research and development as well as applications in regard to special concretes, including self-compacting concrete, temperature-controlled concrete, fibre-reinforced concrete, high-strength concrete, textile-reinforced concrete and 3D printed concrete. Specific attention will also be given to the challenges in successfully implementing projects that use special concrete. Additionally, the presentation will introduce the work of the recently created Centre of Excellence on Technologies for Low Carbon and Lean Construction at IIT Madras.
Manu Santhanam is a Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Madras. He obtained his B Tech degree from IIT Madras in 1994 and MS from Purdue University in 1996. After more than two years with Sika Corporation as a R&D Chemist, he returned to Purdue University for his PhD, completed in 2001, on the topic of sulphate attack of concrete. He joined IIT Madras soon after the completion of his PhD.
Prof. Manu Santhanam specializes in research on cementitious materials from an interdisciplinary approach, wherein sophisticated analytical techniques from chemistry and materials science are used to explore the link between microstructure and performance of cement-based materials. The primary focus of Prof. Santhanam’s research has been the performance of concrete prepared with supplementary cementing materials.
Prof. Santhanam has successfully guided 19 PhD and 8 MS (by research) students, and published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed journals and conferences. He is on the Editorial Board of Cement and Concrete Composites, ASCE Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials, Indian Concrete Journal and Advances in Cement Research. Externally funded projects to the tune of Rs 40 crores (USD 5 Million) have been carried out with Prof. Santhanam as the Principal Investigator for several agencies, including the Department of Science and Technology and Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, and several leading cement and construction chemicals manufacturers.
Prof. Santhanam has been an active participant in the activities of the Indian Concrete Institute, fib and RILEM. Internationally, Prof. Santhanam has been a Regional Convenor for RILEM and has helped promote RILEM activities in South Asia, besides participating in various RILEM technical committees. He is currently also a Fellow of RILEM.