Dr. Nariman Khalil from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering presented the latest results of the research project entitled “Bond Behavior of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers in Ultra-High-Performance Concrete”, performed jointly with Dr. Joseph Assaad at the ACI Spring Convention 2020. More than 300 individuals registered for online sessions as a part of the convention. Additionally, the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) has invited its members to join the session, as posted on social media.

The convention 2020 previously scheduled to take place in Chicago/Rosemont, IL, United States (March 29th till April 2nd, 2020) was held virtually (June 1-3, 2020). ACI held together with fib (International Federation for Structural Concrete) Task Group 2.5 "Bond and material models" an online session on Bond and Development in New Types of Concrete and Reinforcement on June 3rd, 2020.

The experimental part of the research project was done by UOB Civil Engineering students: George Matar, Karim Hariz, Moustafa Yahya and Mahfoud Shaikh Al-Shabab as part of their graduation projects. This project was sponsored by Weber Saint-Gobain (SODAMCO).

Dr. Joseph Assaad, Chairperson of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, commended the laboratory work elaborated by the students during the experimental phase as well as the collection and interpretation of data obtained. The Department has a deliberate strategy to maintain high-quality and advanced infrastructure to foster and promote the development of research programs in different Civil Engineering fields.


Students taking part in the experimental part of the research project. Not Photographed Moustafa Yahya