Abstract: Reducing the environmental footprint of the most used material in the world aside from water, concrete, will have an enormous impact in mitigating climate change effects as well as in the economy. The production of one of the main ingredients of concrete, cement, is responsible for 8% of the total CO2 emissions globally. Furthermore, the 30 billion tons of annual concrete production require the extraction of over 8 billion cubic meters of rocks for aggregate production; thus, concrete production has a tremendous impact on carbon emissions, abiotic depletion of natural resources, and potential waste generation. Considering concrete's ubiquity in the built environment, novel approaches focused not only on reducing its environmental impact but also on turning this material into a proactive agent against climate change can be an opportunity to make the built environment an instrumental contributor to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The objective of the Velay Research Group is to address these needs and opportunities with research on proactive sustainable materials, not only in terms of formulation of novel composites but also in the development of innovative production and testing methods and new tools required to determine their life cycle assessment (LCA) from a holistic point of view. In this seminar, I will provide some examples of my latest contributions at the intersection of our three main research trusts to enhance concrete's sustainability: (i) Production (waste valorization and optimization of resources), (ii) Durability, and (iii) Proactivity (CO2 capture, self-cleaning, depollution, energy efficiency). Finally, I will summarize my vision of current and future research directions in the area of living-engineered composites and adaptive materials and their potential role in the economy, national security, and climate change mitigation.

Bio: Dr. Mirian Velay-Lizancos is an Assistant Professor in the Lyles School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University. Velay-Lizancos specializes in sustainable advanced cementitious composites, CO2 capture, waste valorization, proactive multifunctional materials, durability of concrete, nanomodified materials, and life cycle analysis of construction materials. Velay-Lizancos has pioneered the use of nano-additives to accelerate the natural CO2 uptake of cementitious composites. Her studies unveiled the possibility of modifying the microstructure of the cement paste matrix to make it more reactive with CO2, increasing the CO2 uptake rate of cementitious composites while enhancing their durability. She has also developed self-cleaning low-carbon cementitious material with minimized addition of nano-TiO2 based on a combination of a CO2 curing process and mixture design modification, a CO2 liquid filter to capture CO2 in the point of source, and a precast production method to produce high thermal inertia panels with enhanced mechanical performance, among other discoveries. In addition to numerous publications in top journals, these innovations have led to 7 filed patents (2 optioned by Venture Capitalists). Her research is funded by the Office of Naval Research (ONR), USDoT, INDOT, NSF, and the industry. Prof. Velay-Lizancos' has been recognized with multiple awards, including the "Outstanding Faculty Mentor of Engineering Graduate Students 2021" given by the College of Engineering, as well as the "Roy E. & Myrna G. Wansik Teaching Award 2020." She has served as a Panelist for NSF (US), Spanish Minister of Science, and Swiss NSF and is an active member of ACI and ASCE.