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Dr. Hessam AzariJafari earns ACI Young Member Award for Professional Achievement
Congratulations to Dr. Hessam AzariJafari for earning the American Concrete Institute’s Young Member Award for Professional Achievement. He is recognized “for contributions to the advancement …
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CSHub releases briefs on emissions impact of concrete overdesign and strength testing variability
A CSHub team led by Dr. Soroush Mahjoubi has published two briefs on concrete overdesign and strength testing variability. The team finds that optimizing concrete …
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Op-ed: Policymakers Should Pursue Stronger Construction to Save Lives, Homes, Long-Term Spending
Natural disasters are projected to cost the U.S. nearly $40 billion annually by 2075, highlighting the escalating financial burden of climate-driven disasters. The mounting devastation caused …
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Reducing urban heating and lifetime GHGs with concrete roads
By mid-century, two out of every three persons on the planet will be living in urban areas. These growing urban populations face two simultaneous climate …
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Admir Masic: Using lessons from the past to build a better future
“Roman concrete to me is fascinating: It’s still standing after all this time and constantly repairing,” said Prof. Admir Masic in his MIT News feature. …
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Research meets industry at CSHub’s Fall 2024 Advisory Meeting
On November 6 and 7, we welcomed over 50+ industry professionals from across the concrete, construction, and architecture sectors for a researcher-led poster reception, presentations, …
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The New York Times: Reinventing Concrete, the Ancient Roman Way
The New York Times featured Dr. Admir Masic’s research on ancient Roman concrete’s self-healing ability and how to harness it to boost the resilience of …
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‘Nutrition Facts’ for Emissions: Why EPA Must Account for the Whole Life Cycle in Low Carbon Labels
In their new op-ed in RealClearEnergy, Hessam AzariJafari, Ipek Bensu Manav, and Andrew Laurent explain that while the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s new low-carbon …
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CSHub launches hazard-informed building LCA dashboard
What makes a building “green?” Conventional understandings of green buildings focus on the greenhouse gas emissions associated with constructing the building. However, as our new …
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Research Brief: Next-generation concrete: Combining loadbearing and energy storage solutions
Electron-conducting concrete combines scalability and durability with energy storage and delivery capabilities, becoming a potential enabler of the renewable energy transition. In a new research …
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MITEI selects CSHub CCUS project for funding within energy research cohort
Our project investigating how to enable widespread carbon capture, transport, and storage at scale for hard-to-abate sectors has been selected for funding by the MIT …
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New framework empowers pavement life-cycle decision-making while reducing data collection burden
Roads are the backbone of our society and economy, taking people and goods across distances long and short. They are a staple of the built …
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RC3 Consortium releases one-pager on EPD utility for pavement decision-making
A new one-pager created by the Reduced Carbon Concrete Consortium (RC3) covers the utility of environmental product declarations (EPDs) for pavement decision-making. Key takeaways: Further …
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Brief: Natural carbon uptake in single-family homes: An element-level assessment approach
To create a more precise estimate for the carbon uptake of buildings, the MIT CSHub has developed a bottom-up, context-sensitive approach to estimate the uptake …
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Interim Report: Accounting for Carbon Uptake in the EPDs of Cement-based Products
In this report, a framework is proposed to account for carbon uptake in Product Category Rules (PCRs) for creating EPDs. The proposed method elaborates the …
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MIT CSHub Spring ’23-’24 Review
Learn about the MIT CSHub’s research, communications, and implementation impacts across sustainability, infrastructure, resilience, and workforce since Spring 2023 in our newly-released Spring Review.
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Brief: Getting scope 3 right: how building life cycle analysis enables more complete greenhouse gas accounting for materials producers
Learn how building life cycle assessment can inform scope 1-3 accounting for producers in our latest brief authored by Ipek Bensu Manav and team. Read the brief.
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MIT conductive concrete consortium cements five-year research agreement with Japanese industry
The MIT Electron-conductive Cement-based Materials Hub (EC^3 Hub), an outgrowth of the MIT CSHub, was established by a research agreement with Aizawa Concrete of Japan. …
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Brief: How can the cement industry enable widespread industrial CCUS adoption?
How can the cement industry enable widespread adoption of carbon capture, utilization, and storage? In this research brief, Elizabeth Moore and team investigate a model …
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Whitepaper: Reducing Carbon Emissions in the Built Environment: A Case Study in 3D Printed Homes
Whitepaper: “Reducing Carbon Emissions in the Built Environment: A Case Study in 3D Printed Homes” In this whitepaper, Hessam AzariJafari and Randolph Kirchain join Francesca …
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Hessam AzariJafari to be a panelist at the Transatlantic Institute for Sustainable Trade’s roundtable in Washington, D.C.
Hessam AzariJafari will be a featured panelist at the Transatlantic Institute for Sustainable Trade’s roundtable on 1/31, “Creating a Market for Green Cement and Concrete …
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Research Brief: Accessible Multi-scale Flood Modeling via the 3D Lattice Approach
Danial Amini and Johannes Kalliauer describe an accessible and inexpensive flood modeling approach accounting for city texture. Click here to read more.
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Franz-Josef Ulm and Pete Buttigieg for TRB panel: “New Materials for Infrastructure: Reinventing the Roadway, Runway, & Railway”
Link to the panel here Learn more about our research: https://cshub.mit.edu/
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The Hill: We’re overhauling our cars in the name of energy efficiency — why not our roads?
In their new op-ed in The Hill, Randolph Kirchain and Hessam AzariJafari explain why road improvements enhancing pavement stiffness and smoothness are essential to improve …
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Franz-Josef Ulm sits on TRB USDOT panel with Pete Buttigieg
Franz-Josef Ulm sat on a panel with Pete Buttigieg at the Transportation Research Board’s 2024 meeting yesterday. The panel was part of a U.S. Department …
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Transforming the Role of the Concrete Delivery Professional: Executive Report
In this report, Randolph Kirchain, Frank Field, Beth Unger, and Liz Moore summarize the MIT CSHub’s work to date to understand and mitigate the concrete …
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Happy Holidays from the MIT CSHub!
Happy Holidays from the MIT CSHub! A hearty thank you to everyone in our community for your support. From our researchers to our industry partners, …
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Two CSHub articles make MIT News’ Top Stories of 2023 list
Two articles of ours were among MIT News’ most popular of 2023. Why was Roman concrete so durable? Researchers discovered ancient concrete-manufacturing strategies that gave …
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Webinar: Analyses from MIT CSHub Streamlined Pavement LCA Tool
During this webinar, we show the use of surrogate modeling to enable pavement design optimization and refine long-term performance forecasting. The presentation also includes the …
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MIT CSHub December Newsletter
From a successful PhD defense to a new research brief, it has been an eventful month at the Hub. Some highlights from our December Newsletter: …
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Ipek Bensu Manav successfully defends PhD thesis
A warm congratulations to Ipek Bensu Manav for her successful PhD defense! Dr. Manav presented on “Assessing the Intersectional Risks Associated with the Full Life …
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CSHub November Newsletter
From presentations at ACI to our Fall Advisory Meeting, it has been an eventful month at the Hub! Some major updates: Thank you to all …
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Research Brief: Accessible Multi-Scale Flood Modeling via the 3D Lattice Approach
In this research brief by Johannes Kalliauer and Danial Amini, we explore a computationally inexpensive method to model urban flooding on different scales. Click here …
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MIT CSHub Presentations at the American Concrete Institute Concrete Convention 2023
Thank you to everyone who attended our presentations at ACI. We had eight presentations covering diverse topics. We are looking forward to the next Concrete …
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Elsa Olivetti featured in MIT News article
“I think to make real progress in sustainability, materials scientists need to think in interdisciplinary, systems-level ways, but at a deep technical level,” said Prof. …
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Industry Meets Research at the Fall 2023 CSHub Advisory Meeting!
Thank you to all who attended the November 1st and 2nd Fall Advisory Meeting. We had great discussions and presentations on all things concrete, not …
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CSHub hosts UANL and CEMEX Mexico visitors
A hearty thank you to the folks from organizations like the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León and Cemex México who recently came to visit us …
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Webinar: Embodied/operational tradeoffs in equiv. buildings design w/ various structural materials
On October 26th, Hub alum Lucy Lyu provided an overview of CSHub research to assess the embodied and operational impacts of design decisions for equivalent …
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CSHub presents at ACLCA 2023
Thank you to the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) for having us at their 2023 Conference! Randolph Kirchain, Gregory Norris, Ipek Bensu Manav, …
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Franz-Josef Ulm and Admir Masic talk carbon-cement supercapacitors on G-Town Radio
CSHub is taking to the airwaves! At 4pm ET today, Franz-Josef Ulm and Admir Masic will be featured on G-town Radio to discuss the potential …
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Franz-Josef Ulm presented for UofM distinguished lecture series
Franz-Josef Ulm presented for the University of Michigan’s “Building the Future” lecture series on September 29. He focused on how carbon-cement supercapacitors could serve as …
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Randolph Kirchain presents before MA Senate
Randolph Kirchain presented before the Massachusetts State Senate Committee on Global Warming and Climate Change yesterday. His presentation focused on considerations for low-embodied emissions legislation …
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“Transforming the Role of the Concrete Delivery Professional” webinar now on YouTube!
Our webinar “As the Drum Turns: Transforming the Role of the Concrete Delivery Professional” is now live on YouTube! During this presentation, Beth Unger, Ph.D. …
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Building Resilience Coalition features CSHub article on carbon uptake in concrete
To secure a more sustainable and resilient future, we must look carefully at the life cycle impacts of humanity’s most-produced building material: concrete. Carbon uptake, …
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CSHub September Newsletter
From story placements in Boston Globe Media and the World Economic Forum to high-profile presentations, it has been an eventful month at the Hub. Click …
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Meshkat Botshekan successfully defends PhD thesis
Today, we are celebrating the successful PhD defense of Hub researcher Meshkat Botshekan! Dr. Botshekan presented on “Unveiling Roadway Network Safety: Application of Statistical Physics …
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CSHub makes “top story” in NEU newsletter
We made “top story” in NEU: An ACI Center of Excellence for Carbon Neutral Concrete’s newsletter! In the highlighted piece, postdoc Damian Stefaniuk explains carbonation …
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CSHub publishes video on carbon-cement supercapacitors
In this short video, learn how carbon-cement supercapacitors could serve as a future solution for bulk energy storage, particularly for renewable sources like solar and …
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Boston Globe features CSHub carbon-cement supercapacitor work
Boston Globe Media features our work on carbon-cement supercapacitors in a new article exploring how the technology could be a bulk energy storage solution for …
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CSHub featured in LinkedIn article
In the vast expanse of human history, few materials have shaped our built environment as profoundly as concrete. From towering skyscrapers to sprawling highways, concrete …
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Randolph Kirchain presents at CMHA Midyear Meeting
Thank you for having us at the Concrete Masonry & Hardscapes Association Midyear Meeting! Here, Randolph Kirchain introduces our research on how to reduce the …
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Hessam AzariJafari to present at PaveWise Concrete Conference
“The PaveWise Concrete Conference has multiple sessions including a focus on Paving a Sustainable Future. Hessam Azarijafari from the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub will present …
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World Economic Forum features CSHub article on carbon uptake
“Here’s how concrete can serve as a natural ‘carbon sink’ MIT researchers have developed a new method to boost concrete’s ability to sequester carbon dioxide …
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Admir Masic to present for NRMCA Concrete Innovation series
Admir Masic will lead a presentation on multifunctional concrete for the Concrete Innovations webinar series on September 13th. The talk will cover topics ranging from …
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CSHub, IGGA, and CPAM release Fuel/Carbon Savings Calculator
“Check out our fuel/carbon savings calculator! Developed in partnership with CPAM and MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, it assesses fuel efficiency related to pavement roughness and calculates …
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Tables and figures: Why are graphics taken for granted in research writing?
“At the Concrete Sustainability Hub, I am notorious for being a stickler about quality figures. I am always commenting on my fellow researchers’ charts and …
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3 Questions: Boosting concrete’s ability to serve as a natural “carbon sink”
Damian Stefaniuk unpacks new research to bolster concrete’s natural carbon sequestration potential by adding sodium bicarbonate in mixes in our new Massachusetts Institute of Technology News piece. “Overall, …
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MIT engineers create an energy-storing supercapacitor from ancient materials
Two of humanity’s most ubiquitous historical materials, cement and carbon black (which resembles very fine charcoal), may form the basis for a novel, low-cost energy …
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CSHub August Newsletter
Groundbreaking research on concrete as an energy storage solution, high-profile news stories, and more are featured in our August newsletter. Click to read it!
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The Hill: EPA must prioritize life-cycle emissions in building materials policy
In order to prevent global temperatures from rising by two degrees Celsius this century, the United Nations estimates that annual global emissions must drop by 30 percent …
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New Scientist features CSHub work on concrete supercapacitors
Franz-Josef Ulm and Admir Masic discuss how concrete supercapacitors could store renewable energy for residences and wirelessly charge electric vehicles in New Scientist. “The materials …
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Randolph Kirchain participates in CII annual conference panel
Thank you to the Construction Industry Institute for the opportunity to join a panel on Impacts and Opportunities for Key Construction Materials.
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Ask MIT Climate: What can cities and towns do to lower extreme temperatures?
Randolph Kirchain and Hessam AzariJafari are featured in a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology Climate Portal piece discussing how green spaces and reflective pavements/rooftops can …
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The Globe and Mail: Cool pavement is like sunscreen for streets. Can it take the heat out of concrete cities?
In The Globe and Mail, Randolph Kirchain discusses cool pavements, which can help cities mitigate the impacts of extreme heat and the urban heat island …
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Research Brief: Chemically Induced Pre-Cure Carbonation
In this brief, postdoc Damian Stefaniuk and research assistant Marcin Hajduczek outline how their method for carbonation before curing can offer a new solution for concrete …
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Randolph Kirchain presents at MIT CRE World Real Estate Forum
We were excited to join the MIT Center for Real Estate at their World Real Estate Forum. Randolph Kirchain presented on circularity in the built …
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Webinar: Carbon Uptake of Cement and Concrete Construction: From Single Element to National Level
During this webinar, Hessam AzariJafari led a presentation of a new CSHub framework for modeling the lifetime CO2 uptake of cement-based products at the national …
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Research Brief: Kinetic Temperature for Resilience Assessment
The growing threat of climate events like hurricanes makes the value of resilient construction clear. To help us understand resilience where fragility curves may fall …
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MIT CSHub hosts Concrete Delivery Professional workforce conference
On March 29th and 30th, 2023, we welcomed industry and academics to MIT to discuss the state of the professionals that keep the world moving: …
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3 Questions: Leveraging carbon uptake to lower concrete’s carbon footprint
“Carbon uptake is one more piece of the puzzle that makes concrete a sustainable choice for building in many applications.” In this MIT News story …
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NPR: Rome wasn’t built in a day, but they sure had strong concrete
“It went kind of viral, inasmuch as a materials science paper can captivate the internet.” NPR’s Emily Kwong and KimBerly McCoy join Hub researcher Admir …
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Study: Carbon-neutral pavements are possible by 2050, but rapid policy and industry action are needed
“If we are to meet climate goals such as the Paris Agreement, which demands that we reach carbon-neutrality by 2050 to avoid the worst impacts of …
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Hessam AzariJafari presents for Payette’s YDC Knowledge Series
Hessam AzariJafari presented at Payette’s YDC Knowledge Series today, discussing the significance of carbon uptake, an intrinsic process of concrete, in assessing the environmental footprint …
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Paper: Carbon-neutral pavements possible by 2050; rapid policy and industry action needed
In our new paper in the Springer Nature Group International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, Deputy Director Hessam AzariJafari, Director Randolph Kirchain, and Fengdi Guo modeled embodied impact of future pavements materials …
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Research Brief: The Critical Role of Dynamic Modeling in Forecasting Flood Risk
Urban communities have a higher risk of flooding than current models suggest, making it more vital than ever to ensure that our pavements, buildings, and …
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Research Brief: Inequitable Cost Burden of Hurricane Repairs
Hurricane repairs disproportionately burden socially vulnerable communities according to new research by Ipek Bensu Manav, the first quantitative analysis of its kind. The research brief prompts …
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Research Brief: Recycling Waste Glass as an SCM in Concrete
Due to glass’ valuable role in advancing civilization and global sustainability, the United Nations deemed 2022 the “International Year of Glass.” Glass is used intensively. …
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Extreme heat kills inequitably: Reflective pavements can help, but city action is required
Extreme heat is the deadliest natural hazard in the United States. Between 1992 and 2021, it killed an average of 148 people every year. In …
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Hurricane-resistant construction may be undervalued by billions of dollars annually
In Florida, June typically marks the beginning of hurricane season. Preparation for a storm may appear as otherworldly as it is routine: businesses and homes board up …
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Studying floods to better predict their dangers
“My job is basically flooding Cambridge,” says Katerina “Katya” Boukin, a graduate student in civil and environmental engineering at MIT and the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub’s resident expert …
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From bridges to DNA: civil engineering across disciplines
How is DNA like a bridge? This question is not a riddle or logic game, it is a concern of Johannes Kalliauer’s doctoral thesis. As a …
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Franz-Josef Ulm elected to National Academy of Engineers
MIT engineers John Cohn and Franz-Josef Ulm and are among 111 new members and 22 international members elected to the National Academy of Engineering for 2022. …
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Research Brief: Improving America’s Road Infrastructure by Embracing Uncertainty
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act represent a unique opportunity to transform America’s infrastructure. Nevertheless, it closes less than half of the investment gap needed to build …
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Our 2021 Annual Report
MIT CSHub had an eventful 2021, spearheading successful research and communications initiatives in the spheres of infrastructure, decarbonization, and sustainability. Read more in our 2021 annual …
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Research Brief: Improving America’s Road Infrastructure by Embracing Uncertainty
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act represent a unique opportunity to transform America’s infrastructure. Nevertheless, it closes less than half of the investment gap needed to build …
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2021 Annual Report
MIT CSHub had an eventful 2021, spearheading successful research and communications initiatives in the spheres of infrastructure, decarbonization, and sustainability. Read more in our 2021 annual …
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Research Brief: Solutions for Carbon-neutral Concrete in U.S. Pavements
How can concrete pavements reach carbon neutrality? In this research brief, we outline the various strategies to reduce the emissions of concrete and present a pathway …
Concrete and infrastructure science, engineering, and economics.