A team of CEE professors and graduate students, led by Professor Oral Buyukozturk, are redesigning the most commonly used human-made material in the world: concrete. Specifically, the researchers are focusing on replacing cement paste with a sustainable and longer-lasting alternative. “If we can replace cement, partially or totally, with some other materials that may be readily and amply available in nature, we can meet our objectives for sustainability,” Buyukozturk says. Research involved investigating biological materials, and combining knowledge gathered from existing cement paste design tools, to create a general, bioinspired framework for engineers to design cement, “from the bottom up.” The research group includes lead author and graduate student Steven Palkovic, graduate student Dieter Brommer, research scientist Kunal Kupwade-Patil, Professor Admir Masic, and Department Head and McAfee Professor of Engineering Markus Buehler. Read more on MIT News.