Research in the field of cement composites modified with waste materials to be conducted at WUST by Hassan Abdolpour, PhD. The scientist is a winner of the Stanisław Ulam Programme organised by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange.

The programme aims to increase the internationalisation of Polish universities and research institutions. It enables the arrival to Poland of both recognised and budding researchers with at least a PhD degree, who will strengthen the scientific potential of Polish units and become involved in their scientific activities – research projects and teaching in particular.

76 scientists became winners of the competition’s last edition, including Hassan Abdolpour, PhD, who will conduct his research at WUST’s Faculty of Civil Engineering.

Hassan Abdolpour, PhD received his doctorate in 2017 from the University of Minho, Portugal. His doctoral thesis concerned the development of prefabricated modular construction from blank composite panels and was written under the supervision of Prof. Joaquim Barros.

During this time, he researched the introduction of prefabricated FRP composite sandwich panels which, when joined together, formed the finished structures of temporary buildings. The works were divided into five groups:

• design, manufacture, and testing of FRP composite panels,
• tests of a dismantlable connection system using a mechanical fastener for joining two and three composite sandwich panels,
• assessment of the functional and mechanical properties of each component, as well as modular building prototypes,
• development of high-performance SHCC concrete,
• application and testing of SHCC mortar with sandwich panels.

During this time, he worked intensively with various industrial companies, laboratories, and well-known professors. After obtaining his PhD degree, he worked for two years at the University of Tabriz in Iran.

– I was interested in continuing my research and was looking for an organisation that could help me with this. Before that, I’d met University Professor Łukasz Sadowski, PhD, DSc, Eng. from the Faculty of Civil Engineering, who drew my attention to the activities of the National Academic Exchange Agency. I became interested in the Stanisław Ulam programme, to which I indeed owe that I managed to establish scientific cooperation with Wrocław University of Science and Technology – says Hassan Abdolpour, PhD.

During his stay in Wrocław, the scientist will conduct a project focusing on the recycling of steel fibres and used equilibrium catalyst, which is a waste product of the refinery-based crude oil processing, as a partial substitute of cement in environmentally friendly ultra-high performance self-compacting mortars.

– It’s worth stressing that the possibility of reusing waste as an additive to self-compacting mortar is a huge value not only ecologically but also economically – adds the scientist.

It’s Dr Hassan Abdolpour's first visit to our country. – When I arrived in Wrocław, I was surprised by the fantastic combination of modernity and the city's greenery. Unfortunately, I came amidst the coronavirus pandemic and haven’t yet had a chance to explore all parts of the city. What impressed me, apart from the difficult language, was Poles’ hard-working nature and punctuality – he says.

The research, which began in January, will last for two years, and the amount of funding under the NAWA programme is almost 250 thousand PLN.