HKUST Team Led by Prof. Christopher Leung Receives 2022 CIC Construction Innovation Award

A HKUST research team led by Prof. Christopher Leung, Professor of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has worked with Hip Hing Construction Company Limited and Nano and Advanced Materials Institute (NAMI) and won second prize at the 2022 CIC Construction Innovation Award in the category “Construction Sustainability”. The award ceremony was held in December 2022.

Established in 2015, the CIC Construction Innovation Award aims to encourage the development, promotion and implementation of new construction materials, methods and technologies to enhance the competitiveness of the construction industry. Entries are evaluated in terms of applicability, originality and benefit to the industry.

Prof. Leung and his team’s project, entitled “Self-Healing Recycled Fibre-Reinforced Cementitious Composite”, develops cementitious composites with excellent crack control ability by using surface-treated recycled PET fibers. Under the presence of water, fine cracks that have formed under loading show the ability to self-heal. The composite is hence ideal for applications where water leakage is a major issue, such as water tanks, basement walls, tunnels and caverns. Moreover, with the self-healing ability of cracks, the penetration of chemicals (e.g., chlorides and sulfates) can be effectively delayed and the durability of concrete structures is thereby greatly improved. The self-healing cementitious composite therefore enhances construction sustainability by (i) providing a new way to make use of recycled PET, and (ii) reducing the need for maintenance of civil infrastructure.

Congratulations to Prof. Leung and his team!