top of page

Research Interests: 

  1. Valorization of solid waste into value-added low-carbon binders

  2. Low-Clinker cement 

  3. Artificial geopolymer and cement-bonded aggregates

  4. Bio-based building materials

  5. Magnesium phosphate cements

  6. Alkali-activated and geopolymer materials

  7. Fiber-reinforced cementitious composites

  8. Foam Concrete

Research Projects: 

​As Principal Investigator

  1. Innovation and Technology Fund, Hong Kong, Innovative Concrete Technology with Man-made Lightweight Geopolymer Aggregates from Full Volume Solid Wastes, 01/01/2024 to 31/12/2025, Funding Ref. GHP/144/21GD, HK$1,309,200 (167,648 USD) for main research funding, and HK$1,309,200 (167,648 USD) for research personnel (Sole PI)

  2. Innovation and Technology Fund, Hong Kong, Research on CO2-cured carbon-negative construction materials produced from municipal solid waste incineration ash, 01/2025 to 12/2026, Funding Ref. GHP/354/22GD, HK$ 1,469,700 (188,992 USD) for main research funding, and HK$ 1,469,700 (188,992 USD) for research personnel (Sole PI)

  3. Start-up Fund for RAPs under the Strategic Hiring Scheme, PolyU (UGC), Incineration ash-based geopolymer artificial aggregates, 01/08/2023 to 31/07/2025, Project ID. P0046103, HK$ 250,000 ($32,000 USD), (Sole PI)

  4. National Foreign Expert Individual Program (Category Y), Shanghai University, Study on Carbon Sequestration Regulation and Structural Application of Modern Concrete Materials, 01-2025 to 12-2026, 200,000 RMB (Co-PI)

  5. Hong Kong Science and Technology Park Ideation Programme, Green-Crete, Ideation ID.  Partner-23-269, 01/06/2023 to 31/05/2023, HK$ 50,000 HK$ (6413 USD), (Sole PI)

  6. PolyU Student Entrepreneurial Proof-of-Concept (POC) Funding Scheme 2023_cohort 2, POC-23(2)-053_Green-Crete, (2024, HK $15,000), (Co-PI)

​

As Participant (Post-doc fellow and PhD student)

  1. Research and Development on Waste Ash/Slag-based Artificial Aggregates for Applications in Concrete, Project Code. N_PolyU542/2, Co-I (2021-2023)

  2. Design principle of concrete with full crop stalks aggregates and its mechanism of regulation for air condition characteristic (National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, China), Grant No. 51778363.) (SJTU, China), Co-I (2017-2021)

  3. Study on the waste-based phosphor-silicate cement and its mechanism in ecological consolidation of mucky soil (National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, China), Grant No. 51972209) (SJTU, China), Co-I (2017-2021)

  4. Research on design principle of immature soiled based foam concrete and its mechanism of air condition (National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, China), Grant No. 51378309) (SJTU, China). Co-I (2017-2021)

RESEARCH SUPERVISION & MENTORING


Post-doctoral scholars (5) - Supervision
1.    Dr. Mohamed Abdelhameed Ahmed ABBASS, Dec 2024 – on-going, Using geopolymerization technology for the production of lightweight aggregate from the incineration bottom ash (Supervision)
2.    Dr. Jia-xiang LIEW, May 2024 – May 2025, topic: Moisture-induced degradation of GFRP bars in concrete (Supervision)
3.    Dr. Jixiang ZHU, July 2024 – July 2025, topic:  Lightweight engineered cementitious composites prepared using incineration bottom ash (Supervision)
4.    Dr. Jirong LAN, March 2025 – Aug 2025, Utilization of municipal solid waste incineration fly ash into artificial aggregate
5.    Dr Kaidi PENG, June 2025 – ongoing, Utilization of incineration waste ashes into fiber-reinforced geopolymer concrete

 

PhD Students (3) - Mentoring
1.    Umer HAYAT, January 2024 – ongoing: Durability study of sea water sea sand concrete (Mentoring – One-chapter) 
2.    Chandra Sekhar DAS, Sep 2024 – ongoing: Microstructural analysis of construction materials exposed to severe environments, HK PolyU, (Mentoring– One Chapter)
3.    Lanping QIAN, 2022, Topic: Application of artificial aggregates developed from wastes and by-products for construction, HK PolyU, (Mentoring – One Chapter)


Research Assistant (2) - Supervision
1.    Chufa CHEN, Feb 2024 – 31 Aug 2024: Utilization of carbide slag and incineration bottom ash to produce alkali-activated materials, HK PolyU (Supervision)
2.    Sizhe XUE, Sep 2024 – ongoing: Incineration bottom ash-based artificial aggregates (Supervision)


Undergraduate researchers' Supervision (11) 
1.    Kwan Wai TO, 2024 - ongoing, “Limestone calcined clay cement with low clinker content”  
2.    Chin Yiu HONG, 2024 – ongoing, “Influence of NaOH on properties of low-clinker LC3”
3.    Lok To Nazirite, WONG, 2021 - 2022, “Sewage sludge ash and red mud based artificial aggregate”
4.    Nadeem ABBAS, Zaka QASIM, Khadim HUSSAIN, Hafiz Ihsan AFZAL, “Properties of self-compacting concrete incorporating bagasse ash” 2016-2017
5.    Shafqat RASOOL, M. SAJID, M. SARFRAZ and M Munir IQBAL, “Strength evaluation of different brands of cement available in markets of Pakistan” 2015-2016

Awards and Achievements: 

  1. Top 2% Scientist, Ranking by Stanford University    2024

  2. Awarded with “Academic Star” of 5th Shanghai Jiao Tong University     2021

  3. Nominated as “Youth Footprint” for International Student, (SJTU), 2021    2021

  4. Winner of “Outstanding International Student” by Chinese Scholarship Council    2020

  5. Winner of “Excellent Postgraduate Student” by Shanghai Jiao Tong University    2020

  6. Winner of “Excellent PhD Thesis Grant” Shanghai Jiao Tong University    2019

  7. Chinese Government Scholarship (Type A, 231,000 RMB)    2017– 2021

  8. Dean Honor Roll’s in 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th semesters in BSc. Civil Engineering    2009– 2013

  9. “Analysis and Design of Concrete Building using ETABS” UET Lahore    2012

  10. Certificate of “Reinforced Concrete Detailing” UET Lahore    2012

  11. Certificate of “Project Management” UET Lahore    2011

  12. Certificate of “Primavera P6”, UET Lahore    2011

  13. Spoken English Certificate, UET Lahore    2010

  14. 3 research articles as “ESI Highly Cited Paper” top 1% by citation by Web of Science    2019– to date
     

Conferences, Forums and Symposiums

  1. ​Ahmad, Muhammad Riaz (2024), “Role of alkalis on the hydration of fly ash cement systems” Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Seminar, College of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Shenzhen University (Invited Presentation)

  2. Ahmad, Muhammad Riaz (2024), “Reaction kinetics of high-volume fly ash pastes in the presence of alkali-hydroxide”, RILEM Spring Convention & conference on advanced construction materials and processes for a carbon neutral society, Milan, Italy, (Presentation)

  3. The International Conference on the Environmental and Technical Implications of Construction with Alternative Materials (WASCON), 2023, Hong Kong (Participant)

  4. The International Symposium of Life Cycle Maintenance of Concrete Infrastructure (LCMCI), Hong Kong, 2023 (Event Organizer)

  5. Global Young Scientist Summit (GYSS), Singapore, 2021 (Participant)

  6. International Forum for Young Scholars on Engineering Safety and Disaster Prevention at the Zhengzhou University, 2020 (Speaker)

  7. The 17th National Fiber Reinforced Concrete Academic Conference, Xi'an, 2018, Title “Study of concrete based on bio-aggregate and magnesium phosphate cement” (Speaker)

  8. The 11th National Academic Conference on High-Strength and High-Performance Concrete, Changsha, 2019, Title “Mechanical and thermal properties of lightweight concrete containing foam and silica fume” (Speaker)

  9. The 13th Academic Symposium on High-Performance Concrete, Tangshan, 2019, Title “Development of novel thermal and hygric bio-composites based on plant aggregates and industrial wastes” (Speaker)

Journals Refereed:                              

2019 – Present


•    Journal of Cleaner Production (JCP)
•    Construction and Building Materials (CBM)
•    Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering (JMCE), ASCE 
•    Case Studies in Construction Materials (CSCM)
•    Journal of Building Engineering (JBE)
•    Journal of Hazardous Materials (JHM)
•    Journal of Civil Engineering (JCE), KSCE
•    Reviews on Advanced Materials Science (RAMS)
•    Structure Concrete

•    Cleaner Materials​

© 2021 by Muhammad Riaz Ahmad     (Website is updated on monthly basis)

bottom of page