First summer school on Low Clinker Green Cement-based Composites organized in IIT Bhubaneswar!

School of Infrastructure at Indian Institute of Technology, Bhubaneswar,  conducted first 3-day Summer School on ”Low Clinker High  Performance Cement Composites (HPCC)” during  13^th – 15^th June, 2018 at its Argul campus. Prof. S. K. Mahapatra, (acting Director & Dean, Continuing Education) inaugurated the training program cum workshop with a key note address by eminent academician Prof. Victor C Li of University of Michigan Eminent faculty members from both India and abroad and practicing engineers delivered expert talks focusing on the latest developments in the promising and fast emerging fields of research area such as low clinker binders and HPCC. Green cement-based composites are a class of materials that are also referred to as ‘bendable concrete’.  Unlike ordinary concrete, these high-performance materials exhibit metal like ductility through a process known as pseudo-strain hardening which is accompanied by formation of multiple micro-cracks under load. These composites are developed based on performance-based design approach using micromechanics of fiber-matrix interaction. They are used in a large number of applications ranging from high rise earth-quake resistant buildings to link slabs used on bridge pavements. Green cement based composites  utilise large quantity  of industrial waste such as fly ash and slag, besides low carbon lime and calcined clay (LC2) material as well as the low clinker lime calcined clay cement (LC3). The Summer School is of particular relevance to the state of Odisha with its large deposits of coal, and industrial by-products such as fly ash and slag. The training program also included expert talks on a new class of cement free material known as inorganic polymers or geopolymers or alkali activated materials as well as other high-performance materials. Hands-on demonstration was also imparted to make the participants familiar with these new generation materials. The summer school is jointly organised by Dr. Dinakar Pasala and Dr. B. Hanumantha Rao of School of Infrastructure at IIT Bhubaneswar, and Prof. Dhanada Kanta Mishra of KMBB College of Engineering Technology under Biju Patnaik University of Technology. Indian Concrete Institute (ICI) is the partner organisation supporting this maiden initiative to disseminate the latest developments in the field. About 112 participants from different government organizations, corporate industry and academia have attended the program. The eminent faculty members addressed the participants include Prof. Ravindra Gettu of IIT Madras, Prof. D.N. Singh of IIT Bombay, Prof. K Subramanian of IIT Hyderabad, Dr. Dinakar Pasla & Dr. B. Hanumnatha Rao of IIT Bhubaneswar, Dr. Dhanada Kanta Mishra, Prof. Durgesh C Rai of IIT Kanpur, Dr. Piyush Chaunsali & Dr. R. Pillai of  IIT Madras, Dr. Nilanjan MItra of IIT Kharagpur, Prof. Christopher Y K Leung, Dr. Jing Yu and Ms. Pavithra Parthasarathy of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Dr. Behzad Nematollahi of Swinburne University. Internationally acclaimed for his research in green cement Prof. Ravindra Gettu of IIT Madras and Prof. K Subramaniam of IIT Hyderabad graced the concluding session with a panel discussion. Dalmia Bharat Cement Limited, UltraTech Cements Limited, and RAMCO Cements Limited have sponsored the unique event.

 For more information kindly contact Dr.  Dinakar Pasala on 9556297825 or Dr.  Hanumantha Rao at 9439739910