Dr Ali Kashani | UNSW Research

My Expertise

Sustainability in Construction

Waste valorisation and circular economy

Carbon capturing and minerlisation

Construction 3D printing

Construction Automation

Geopolymer concrete

Keywords

alkali-activated geopolymer concrete

automation

carbon capture and storage

Fields of Research (FoR)

Construction Materials, Construction Engineering

SEO tags

Construction Materials Performance and Processes

Environmentally Sustainable Construction

Expanding Knowledge in Built Environment and Design

Biography

Dr Ali Kashani is a Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Sustainable Concrete and 3D printing and a Churchill Fellow in Construction 3D Printing with extensive experience in research, development, and commercialisation of advanced and sustainable construction materials. One of his research area is 'Construction Automation' via development of novel high-performance materials and techniques for robot-aimed construction including 3D printing. His other main area of research is sustainable construction materials for 'Circular Economy' including wastes valorisation, carbon capturing and mineralisation, low-carbon construction materials, sustainable concrete, and alkali-activated materials (geopolymers).

My Grants

Selected major grants:

- Ali Kashani – Developing a mortar for 3D printing using a gantry system – Direct research contract funded by Contour 3D

- Ali Kashani, Taehwan Kim, and Stephen Foster – Development of Sustainable Concrete with Glass Waste Mixes – An Innovation Connection Grant by XL Concrete and the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science

- Tuan Ngo and Ali Kashani – Demonstration and developing VicRoads’ specification for use of waste glass in concrete – Funded through a competitive R&D scheme of Sustainability Victoria in partnership with Level Crossing Removal Authority, KBR, John Holland, Hanson, and VicRoads

- Tuan Ngo and Ali Kashani – Impact-resistant concrete safety road barrier with recycled tyre – Funded through a competitive R&D scheme of Tyre Stewardship Australia in partnership with Saferoads and VicRoads

- Tuan Ngo, Ali Kashani, and Ailar Hajimohammadi – A novel application of recycled glass in lightweight concrete – Funded through a Competitive R&D scheme of Sustainability Victoria in partnership with PrefabAUS

- Tuan Ngo and Ali Kashani – Novel applications of recycled tyre in lightweight composite sandwich panels – Funded through a competitive R&D scheme of Tyre Stewardship Australia in partnership with PrefabAUS

My Awards

Churchill Fellowship for 3D printing of houses sponsored by AVJennings

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

3d printing

concrete

alkali-activated geopolymer concrete

automation

sustainability

Areas of supervision

PhD Scholarships may be available for research-enthusiastic local and international students with excellent academic grades (GPA of 80 and above) and at least one journal paper or equivalent research experience.

If you are eligible to get a scholarship (or if you have your own scholarship), please email (ali.kashani@unsw.edu.au) your updated CV, official transcripts, and a brief summary of your research interest.

Available research areas:

- CO2 mineralisation in concrete

- High-performance and sustainable construction materials and techniques for 3D printing

- Next generation of sustainable concrete and composites

Currently supervising

*PhD students*
2022 - 2026	Reza Namini – Modelling CO₂ transportation and reaction mechanisms to predict concrete durability against carbonation and corrosion
2022 - 2025	Rizwan Hameed – CO₂ sequestration in low-carbon concretes
2022 - 2025	Emad Golafshani – Developing a sustainable mix design of concrete containing waste materials using machine learning and metaheuristic optimization algorithms
2021 - 2024	Zuobang Yao (joint with Dr Kim) – Shrinkage behaviour of 3D printing alkali-activated materials
2019 - 2023	Hamid Bayat – Fibre-reinforced lightweight concrete for 3D printing
2018 - 2022	Mohsen Rezaei (co-supervisor) – Mixture Optimisation, Shrinkage Behaviour & Structural Integrity of 3D printed structure
2018 - 2022	Tianchun (Echo) Wang (co-supervisor) – Utilization of waste glass fines in concrete and evaluation of its alkali-silica reaction
2018 - 2022	Sachinthani Ayesha Karunarathna (co-supervisor) – A sustainable application of waste tyre in concrete road barriers

My Engagement

2021 - now	Chair – Cement and concrete working group at Materials & Embodied Carbon Leaders’ Alliance (MECLA)
2021 - now	NSW committee Member – Concrete Institute of Australia
2018 - 2019	Academic member – Net Zero Concrete Industry Working Group
2019 - now	Associate Fellow in teaching and learning – the Higher Education Academy (AdvanceHE)
2016 - now	Member – Concrete Institute of Australia
2014 - now	Member – Australian Society of Rheology

2019 - 2021	Guest Editor of Journal of Applied Sciences (Q1, IF: 2.217) for the special issue of "Microstructures and Materials for Additive Manufacturing"
2020 - 2021	Associate Editor of Journal of Frontiers in Built Environment for the special topic of “Materials and Technologies Towards Low-Carbon Concrete’