Advanced Materials and Digital Transformation for Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure

Research objectives：

1. This Project aims to advance knowledge and practice in the development of sustainable, resilient, and intelligent infrastructure systems, with a particular focus on the integration of advanced materials, innovative strengthening techniques, and digital technologies across the infrastructure lifecycle. Drawing on the complementary expertise of the Academic Lead and Co-Academic Leads, the project seeks to bridge materials innovation, structural performance, and infrastructure management within the context of modern construction challenges.

2. The scope encompasses low-carbon and high-performance construction materials, including fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, textile-reinforced concrete, stainless steel reinforcement, and nanomaterial-enhanced cementitious and epoxy-based bonding systems, with emphasis on durability, long-term behaviour, and life-cycle optimisation. Contributions addressing structural retrofitting, repair, and rehabilitation of existing infrastructure are particularly encouraged, especially where experimental, numerical, or performance-based design approaches are employed.

3. In parallel, the project highlights emerging trends in structural health monitoring (SHM), robotics, artificial intelligence, and data-driven engineering, including autonomous inspection, AI-enabled safety systems, risk assessment, and hazard mitigation. Studies that integrate construction and facility management, digital transformation, and performance evaluation (e.g., KPI-based frameworks) are also welcomed.

4. Overall, this project aims to provide a multidisciplinary platform for researchers and practitioners to present innovative, scalable, and cost-effective solutions that enhance the safety, durability, sustainability, and resilience of infrastructure systems under evolving environmental and operational demands.

Keywords：

• Sustainable and resilient infrastructure

• Advanced construction and building materials

• Low-carbon and high-performance cementitious composites

• Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites

• Textile-reinforced concrete

• Nano-enhanced bonding systems

• Structural retrofitting, repair, and rehabilitation

• Durability, structural performance, and life-cycle optimisation

• Structural health monitoring (SHM) and smart infrastructure

• Robotics and autonomous inspection in construction

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning in structural engineering

• AI-enabled safety systems, risk assessment, and hazard mitigation

• Construction and facility management

• Performance evaluation and key performance indicators (KPIs)

• Numerical modelling, experimental testing, and performance-based design

• Digital transformation and intelligent construction systems

Expected Outcomes：

Academic: Peer-reviewed publications