Dr. Mohammed Al-Osta
                                                                                                                          +966 13 860 2713
     IRC for Construction and                                                                                             malosta@kfupm.edu.sa 
     Building Materials
            VISION AND MISSION                                                 TARGET SECTORS
     Vision: To be a leading research center in the                      •  Oil and gas and Petrochemical Industries
     area of construction and building materials.                        •  Ready-mix concrete , precast plants and Cement Industries
     Mission: To conduct interdisciplinary research                      • Construction
     with the aim of developing sustainable                              • Education
     construction and building materials and their                       • Energy
     commercialization.                                                  • Defense
                                                                         •  Saudi Aramco
                                                                         •  General Administration of Civil Aviation
            CHALLENGES                                                   • SABIC
     •  Utilization of indigenous natural and industrial waste materials to develop environment-friendly construction and building 
        materials.
     •  Develop materials and systems for energy conservation.
     •  Develop smart building materials, self-cleaning concrete, self-healing concrete, etc.
     •  Utilization of industrial emissions, such as CO , in the development of building and construction materials.
                                                        2
     •  Develop advanced techniques for characterization of materials and in-situ inspection (buildings, bridges, highways, etc.).
     •  Using machine learning and artificial intelligence to model materials behavior, performance of construction systems and in-site 
        inspection.
     •  Use innovative digital manufacturing techniques, such as 3D printing of concrete/rammed earth.
     •  Use of recycled plastics in asphalt and Portland cement concrete
            RESEARCH THEMES
     Materials for sustainable construction                        (Assessment/Monitoring)             Modelling 
     •  Environment-friendly materials incorporating               •  Corrosion monitoring             •  Molecular-level simulations of 
        natural/industrial waste materials.                        •  Structural health                   materials
     •  Composite materials, including smart construction             monitoring.                      •  Applications of machine learning 
        materials                                                  •  Innovative inspection               and artificial intelligence to model 
     •  Corrosion-resistant materials and systems                     techniques                          materials behavior, the performance 
     •  Nonmetallic materials in buildings and                     •  Thermal assessment and              of construction systems, and in-site 
        infrastructure                                                mapping                             inspection
     •  Energy-efficient materials and systems suitable for                                            •  Modeling of composite/ 
        severe climatic conditions                                                                        non-composite structural elements.
     •  Cementitious materials incorporating 
        nanomaterials
     •  Alkali activated binders and polymer Concrete 
     •  Highway, railway and airport materials
     Innovative techniques                                          Materials for Environmental Health of Buildings 
     •  Innovative digital manufacturing techniques,                •  Self-cleaning materials & coatings for indoor air quality control
        including 3D printing of concrete, etc.                     •  Self-cleaning advanced glass and clay tiles for aesthetics
                                                                    •  Environmental-friendly green & recycled materials for noise pollution 
                                                                      control