CIES welcomes Scientia Associate Professor Wengui Li

CIES warmly welcomes Wengui Li, an ARC Future Fellow and a new Scientia Associate Professor in our Centre.  Wengui Li has earned international recognition for his pioneering research in the fields of intelligent/smart concrete and sustainable construction materials for resilient and durable infrastructure.

Wengui received his Joint Doctoral Degree from Tongji University and Northwestern University in 2013. He studied as a Pre-doctoral Research Fellow in the Centre for Advanced Cement-Based Materials (ACBM) at Northwestern University from 2010 to 2013.

Wengui has established a research group "Intelligent Concrete and Infrastructure Materials" (ICIM). The group focuses on developing new functionalities and nanotechnologies for concrete to enhance its properties and resilience, making it smarter and more sustainable for future infrastructure. He has extensive experience in collaborating with leading experts from universities and industries worldwide, including Australia, USA, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, China, and Germany.

Wengui's research interests revolve around connecting material properties of concrete to structural responses at multiple scales, ranging from the nano to structural levels. His research specifically focuses on multifunctional concrete and low-carbon construction materials, with a particular emphasis on smart concrete (e.g., self-sensing, self-healing, hydrophobicity, photocatalysis, energy-saving), concrete nanotechnology (e.g., nanomodification, nanocharacterisation), recycled aggregate concrete materials and structures, carbon neutral concrete, and CO₂ mineralized concrete, concrete durability (e.g., chloride transport, reinforcing corrosion), and seawater sea sand concrete materials and structures.

Wengui has secured research funding from ARC schemes, public governments, and industry contracts. He has been awarded the ARC Future Fellow in 2022 and the ARC DECRA Fellow in 2014, respectively. He received two ARC Discovery Projects, one ARC Linkage Project, two ARC ITR Hub Component Projects, two ARC LIEF Projects, and one Innovation Connections Grant from the Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science.

Wengui have a trajectory publication record with over 200 refereed journal papers in Scopus, with over 10,000 citations and an h-index of 54. In Google Scholar, he has over 12,000 citations and an h-index of 56. His work has been highly cited, with seven Highly Cited Papers by Clarivate (Web of Science). He also has an impressive track record as an editor, committee member, and conference organizer. He serves as an editor (associate) or editorial board member for seven international journals, including Construction and Building Materials (Elsevier), Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering (ASCE), Case Studies in Construction Materials (Elsevier), and Sustainable Materials and Technologies (Elsevier).

Wengui is a Fellow of Engineers Australia (FIEAust). He serves on several international technical committees (e.g., ACI-241 and ACI-555), RILEM 278-CHA, 283-CAM, and 273-RAC), fib (TG4.7 Structural applications of recycled aggregate concrete - properties, modelling and design), and national technical committees (e.g., RSNSW, EA, CIA, ANN, ANSHM). Wengui is one of the founding members of RILEM CNC: Carbon-based nanomaterials for multifunctional cementitious matrices, demonstrating his leadership and pioneering spirit in his field. He is a member of the 2023-2025 NSW State Committee of the Concrete Institute of Australia (CIA).

Wengui holds an honorary appointment at the University of Technology Sydney. He is also an International Excellence Fellow at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.

Wengui began his role in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at UNSW Sydney on October 16, 2023.