A Material Science-based and Data-driven Approach towards Sustainable and Durable Infrastructure

This slide deck was presented in Part 1 of our webinar, "From Powder to Power: Advancing Cement Research with Particle Analysis," on July 16, 2025. Watch the full recording here!

Key Takeaways 

1. Part 1: The Big Picture

• Grand Challenges
• Potential Remedies
• Research Overview

2. Part 2. Data-driven approach: “AI-driven modeling and optimization of concrete mix”

• ML modeling & optimization of concrete & Research gaps
• Large industry data set: Data statistics
• Overview of the computational framework
• Results & Discussion
• Conclusion & Future Work

3. Part III. Material science approach: “Establish composition-structure-reactivity relationship for different alkaline solid wastes”

• A bit more about several low-CO2 raw materials
• Blended cements & Alkali-activated cements (AACs)
• A major challenge for using amorphous waste materials
• One promising solution & Research goal
• Methods: Atomistic modeling & X-ray and neutron total scattering
• Results & Discussion 
• Conclusion & Future Work

Want to know more? Download the PDF to explore the details.

Speaker

Dr. Kai Gong, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University Website: https://gong.rice.edu/