DRF Lunchtime Clinic - Dr Abbas Solouki and Aswathy Rajendran

The DRF Lunchtime Clinic is delighted to welcome Dr Abbas Solouki and Aswathy Rajendran, who will present talks on 'Zero Waste Geopolymer Pavement' and 'Carbon Sequestration Using Waste-Derived Materials for Net-Zero Concrete'. Join us for an engaging session exploring innovative solutions for sustainable roads, low-carbon concrete, and the future of net-zero infrastructure.

Zero Waste Geopolymer Pavement Carbon Sequestration Using Waste-Derived Materials for Net-Zero Concrete About the talk About the talk Over the past two decades, considerable research effort has been directed toward developing sustainable alternatives to conventional pavement materials. Geopolymer binders, recycled and reclaimed aggregates, bio-based bitumen modifiers, and low-carbon concrete systems have each attracted significant academic attention, with laboratory studies consistently reporting promising mechanical performance, reduced environmental footprint, and in many cases favourable life cycle assessment outcomes. Despite this growing body of evidence, the transition from laboratory characterisation to full-scale field implementation has been slow, and the gap between academic proof of concept and mainstream industry adoption remains considerable. This talk presents a range of sustainable pavement materials and techniques currently under investigation in academia and discusses what it actually takes to move them from a research paper onto a road. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) within construction materials offers a promising pathway toward decarbonising the construction industry. However, industrial adoption remains limited by the high energy requirements of sequestration and the potential for compromised material performance when used in concrete. This talk explores how waste-derived materials – specifically recycled concrete-derived materials and biomass derived biochar, can mitigate these challenges through CO2 sequestration and their subsequent use as concrete constituents. The talk focuses on CO2 uptake capacity, performance implications, and associated emissions with these materials, guiding their position for large scale adoption. About the speaker About the speaker Dr Abbas Solouki is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Future Roads Fellow at the University of Cambridge. A two-time MSCA awardee, he specialises in sustainable pavement engineering, with a focus on geopolymer binders, ultra-low carbon concrete alternatives, and the circular reuse of waste materials in road construction. His current fellowship targets zero-waste pavement systems using reclaimed asphalt pavements and crushed concrete aggregates as inputs for geopolymer rigid pavements.
He completed his PhD at the University of Bologna as an MSCA Early Stage Researcher in the Horizon 2020 SAFERUP! project, following an MSc in Highway and Transportation Engineering at Universiti Putra Malaysia. His published work spans geopolymer paving, bitumen rheology, and material characterisation for sustainable infrastructure. Aswathy is a second-year PhD student at the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment (FIBE2 CDT). She is supervised by Prof. Abir Al-Tabbaa (Academic Supervisor) and Dr. Chrysoula Litina (National Highways Supervisor). Her research aims to provide a roadmap for the large-scale adoption of waste derived carbon-sequestering concrete constituents, with relevance to the strategic goals of National Highways. Prior to joining Cambridge, she worked as a concrete research scientist at two leading cement companies in India, focusing on waste valorisation and CO2 mineralisation of demolition waste.