February 2026
Earlier this month the TREMS Hub were excited to welcome special guests from the cement and concrete industry, to talk to our PhD and civil engineering students at the RMIT City Campus.
The morning session of our first forum for the year included insightful keynote presentation from Michael Staunton, Acciona Australia, who highlighted the pressing concerns for carbon neutrality with government deadlines fast approaching, the need to quickly validate and commercialise research solutions.
Following Michael, Professor Andrzej Cwirzen, from Luleå University of Technology, Sweden presented his work on smart concrete. Using electrical currents to measure thermal changes for the possibility of heat capture and capturing deterioration before it threatens the structural integrity of the concrete.
Our final session for the morning was a panel discussion where top takeaways included suggestion that all researchers should look at the entire lifecycle before commencing work. Visit a quarry, talk to the concrete manufacturers and finally to visit a construction site. They were encouraged to see the process at each stage and determine how their work will be of use and where it would fit. In addition to getting industry involved early the other note was to work closely with the regulators, finding out what work they need to see to make changes to guidelines.
The hub is in a unique position, each of our projects has industry backing giving our researchers an inside advantage to consider commercial viability throughout the project.
The group were excited by the work being undertaken and everyone was optimistic for the future.
Thank you to all our guests: Michael Staunton, Acciona Australia; Andrzej Cwirzen, Luleå University of Technology, Sweden; Sushant Mane, Holcim Australia; Yew-Chin Koay, VIDA Roads; Estela Oliari Garcez, GHD Australia; Clayton Miles, SVC Civil.
