SUPERHYDROPHOBIC CONCRETE

Konstantin Sobolev

Present employment
Associate Professor (tenured), Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanics / Department of Materials Science and Engineering, CEAS, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA, 2007-present Director, Advanced and Nano- Cement Lab (ANCL), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA, 2007-present Associate Director, Center for By-Product Utilization (CBU), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA, 2011-present

Previous employment

Academic

• Professor of Civil Engineering, Doctorate Program on Construction Materials and Structures, Facultad de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Mexico, 2003-2007
• Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, European University of Lefke (EUL), North Cyprus, 1999 - 2003
• Lecturer (part-time), Department of Civil Engineering, Gazi University, Turkey, 1998-1999

Administrative

• Member, Board of Directors, ACI - Wisconsin Chapter, USA, 2011-present
• Director, Advanced and Nano- Cement Lab (ANCL), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA, 2007-present
• Associate Director, Center for By-Product Utilization (CBU), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA, 2011-present
• Member, Research Board of Advisors, American Biographical Institute (ABI), USA, 2006-present
• Member, Board of Directors, ACI - Northeast Mexico Chapter, Mexico, 2004-2007
• Member, Board of Directors, SCI Con Technologies, Turks and Caicos Islands, 2000-2007
• Member, Board of Directors, Milestone Architectural, USA, 2005-2009
• Head, Department of Civil Engineering, European University of Lefke, North Cyprus (EUL), 2000-2003
• Manager, Research and Development, NIGBAS- Precast, ISIKLAR Holding, Turkey, 1998-1999
• Head, Department of Fine Grinding and Powder Materials, Institute of Materials Research and Effective Technologies (IMET), Russia, 1994-1995

Industrial

• Research Consultant, Povazska Cementaren A.S. , Slovakia, 2010-2012
• Research Consultant, Vicon Cement, USA, 2009-2010
• Research Consultant, Milestone Architectural, USA, 2005-2009
• Research Consultant, SCI Con Technologies, Turks and Caicos Islands, 2000-2007
• Research Consultant, KROMSAN, SISECAM Holding, Turkey, 1999-2002
• Research Consultant, NIGBAS – Precast Concrete, ISIKLAR Holding, Turkey, 1999-2003
• Research Consultant, CIMSA, Turkey, 1997-1998
• Research Consultant, Dogal Alci, Turkey, 1996-1997
• Research Consultant, RD MNTS-Service, Ministry of Science, Russia, 1995-1996
• Research Consultant, NIAT - Scientific Service, Russia, 1994-1996
• Research Consultant, Panbao Cement, China, 1994-1995
• Research Consultant, IMM-LITSO, Russia, 1989-1996
• Research Consultant, Impuls-M, Russia, 1994-1995
• Research Consultant, Sizaran Cement, Russia, 1994-1995
• Research Engineer/Associate, Chemical Admixtures Lab, NIIZhB, Russia, 1990-1994
• Process Engineer, MZZhBT – Precast Concrete, Russia, 1988-1990

DEGREES, ASSESSMENTS AND EVALUATIONS

Academic degrees

• BS/MS summa cum laude (1988) Moscow State Civil Engineering University, Russia
• Ph.D. (1993) Research Institute of Concrete and Reinforced Concrete, (NIIZhB), Russia

Professional Goals
To develop a new scientific platform for sustainable development of the cement and concrete industry based on advances in nanotechnology. This platform must provide a reduction in the use of cement by at least 50% and will radically extend the service life of developed concrete by a factor of 5 and higher. An overview of recent work on high-performance sustainable/nano-engineered construction materials and my vision of future long-term research program are summarized in the attached documents.

Contact:

Ismael Flores Vivian, completed his Ph.D. research on “Synthesis of SiO2 nanoparticles of and their effect on microstructure, rheological, and mechanical properties of cement based materials” at the “Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL)” (graduated with honors- November 2009) in Mexico. Currently his research work focuses on material and hydration product characterization techniques and the effects of nanomaterials, fibers, supplementary cementitious materials and chemical admixtures on high performance concrete. At UWM, he is a Research Associate and works with Professor Konstantin Sobolev on Superhydrophobic Engineered Cementitious Composites, De-Icing Superhydrophobic Concrete, and Optimized Concrete Pavement Mixtures. He is also a research advisor and lab manager for Ph.D. and M.S. students.

Research Interests:

• Innovative design and characterization of state-of-the-art construction materials
• Utilization of supplementary cementitious materials for high performance materials
• Investigation of fresh and hardened properties of construction materials
• Development of green sustainable alternatives to conventional concrete
• Fiber-reinforced composites and nano-fiber / smart composites

Contact: ismaelfv@uwm.edu

Rajan Saha obtained a Bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2006. He joined the Department of Civil Engineering at BUET as a Research Assistant and conducted research on earthquake vulnerability analysis of structures. He started research in the field of asphalt materials (Transportation Engineering) at Louisiana Tech University (LTU) in 2009 and received his Ph.D. at Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana, USA in March, 2013, where he did research on Warm Mix Asphalt. Currently he is a Research Associate in the Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at UW-Milwaukee.

Research Interests:

• Use of fly ash (mineral fillers) in asphalt (ASHphalt)
• Asphalt rheology
• Warm mix asphalt
• Asphalt modeling
• Physicochemical characterization of asphalt materials
• Micro- and nano-scale characterization
• Multi-scale modeling of pavement materials

Contact: saha2@uwm.edu

Scott Muzenski is a Ph.D candidate in Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received both his B.S. in Civil Engineering and Mechanics (Structural Emphasis) and M.S. in Engineering (Structural and Construction Materials Emphasis) from UWM. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee under the supervision of Professor Konstantin Sobolev. He is currently researching ultra-high performance fiber reinforced concrete (UHPFC) and modeling of fiber reinforced concrete.

Research Interests:

• Mechanical behavior and durability of fiber reinforced concrete
• Use of nano-particles to improve concrete performance
• By-product utilization for cement-based materials
• Ultra-high performance concrete
• “smart” concrete

Contact: swm@uwm.edu

Rani G. K. PRADOTO is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, pursuing her Ph.D in Civil Engineering and Mechanics. She has a bachelor’s degree from Bandung Institute Technology in Indonesia and master's degree from Colorado State University. Her focuses are on sustainable construction material, application of nanomaterials in construction, nanotechnology for improving concrete, and optimization of concrete. At UWM, she works in the Advanced Cement-Based Materials/Advanced Nano-Cement Lab with Professor Konstantin Sobolev on optimizing proportions of concrete, mortar, and paste to obtain improved workability and flow. She is also currently worked for the effect of the cement, Supplementary of Cementitious Material hydration to improve performance of concrete.

Research Interests:

• Fiber-reinforced of nanoparticles concrete
• Optimization on design improvement for construction material
• Development of sustainable material for improving the strength of material
• Development of nano material for improving performance of concrete
• Mechanical behavior and characterization of cement based material.
• Structural design and strength of material

Contact: rpradoto@uwm.com or rpradoto@gmail.com

Marina Ivanovna Kozhukhova completed her Bachelor’s degree in Belgorod State Technological University named after V.G. Shoukhov (BSTU named after V.G. Shoukhov), Belgorod, Russia, and joined the department of Construction materials and products as a Research Assistant at BSTU and conducted research on polymer structure modification with using of micro- and nanoparticles. After successfully completing the MSc program at BSTU on influence of inorganic nanostructured microfillers on structurization of thermosets, she started research in the field of geopolymers on the base of natural raw materials at BSTU, she joined as a Visitor Researcher at the Department of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at UW-Milwaukee.

Research Interests:

• Non-hydration mineral nanostructured binders and construction materials on their base
• Geopolymers
• Thermosets in construction field
• Developing of non-hydration binders using nanosystems
• Electro-conductive silicate building materials
• Polyfunctional modification of construction composites with natural and synthetic nanosystems

Contact: swm@uwm.edu

Emil G. Bautista is a Civil Engineer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic who is currently working as a Research Assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he is pursuing a Ph.D. degree. He finished his undergraduate studies in Santo Domingo in 2006 and continued with a Master degree at University of Wisconsin-Madison (2009) in asphalt rheological testing and asphalt mixtures design and testing. He is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Konstatin Sobolev on a research project to study the effective use of fly ash in asphalt pavements.

Research Interests:

• Asphalt rheological testing with a special interest in Superpave characterization techniques of asphalt binder and Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) mixtures.
• Highways design and construction and the use of sustainable materials
• Warm Mix Additives (WMA), Recycled Asphalt Pavement (RAP) and Coal Combustion Products (CCP)

Contact: emil@uwm.edu

Justin FLICKINGER, obtained a B.S. from UW-Milwaukee in 2008. Currently, he is a master’s student at UW-Milwaukee under the direction of Professor's Konstantin Sobolev from UWM and Ahmed Faheem from UW-Platteville working on optimizing a mix design incorporating fly ash into asphalt coined ASHphalt . Flickinger has a wide range of professional skills in multiple industries and has continued to broaden his experience by working on the aggregate optimization project led by Dr. Sobolev along with other UWM students.

Research Interests:

• Materials sciences
• Transportation
• Operations management (of multiple businesses)
• Teaching

Contact: flickin3@uwm.edu

Mohamadreza Moini received his B.S. in Civil Engineering in 2009, from the University of Qom, Iran. He has worked as a supervisor and manager of construction projects and continued to work actively on implementation of research and developments with cement-industry companies. He has published many standards, papers, a book, and patent on related topics and has participated in compiling and submitting national standards on safety and precast concrete manholes for the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran. He is currently a research assistant at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the graduate program in structural engineering, under the supervision of Professor Konstantin Sobolev. At UWM, he is working on aggregates and chemical and mineral admixture optimization for low-slump concrete pavements with reduced cementitious materials. Currently he is working in the Advanced Cement-Based Materials Lab, expanding his skills by designing experiments, analyzing data and helping other graduate students in fly ash incorporation in asphalt.

Research Interests:

• Structural and materials engineering
• Concrete and asphalt pavement
• Rheology of cement and bituminous materials
• Aggregate packing models
• Fiber reinforced concrete
• De-icing superhydrophobic concrete
• SCC and precast concrete,
• Seismic design of structures.

Contact: mmoini@uwm.edu

Sunil Rao,

Research Interests:

Contact: sunilrao@uwm.edu