Dr Riccardo Maddalena
Lecturer
- maddalenar@cardiff.ac.uk
- +44 (0)29 208 76 150
- Room C/4.09, Queen's Buildings - Central Building, 5 The Parade, Newport Road, Cardiff, CF24 3AA
- Available for postgraduate supervision
Overview
#myself
Pronouns: He/Him/His; Hear my name
I am a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Civil Engineering at Cardiff University and Fellow of the Higher Education (FHEA). I am a Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered Scientist (CSci) and Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), with a focus on multidisciplinary applied research. I gained experience in the automotive industry, civil engineering consultancy and academia. Since I joined Cardiff University, I have been working on the development of self-healing and biomimetic infrastructure materials, and low-carbon concrete.
I am passionate about #equality and #diversity, especially in STEMM. I co-chair the School of Engineering Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) committee.
#myinterests
My main research activity is associated with the REsilient Structures and COnstruction Materials (RESCOM) Research Group. My interests are on characterisation and durability of building materials, cement and concrete science, chemistry and engineering applications. I have experience in bench-scale and pilot-scale experiment design. I use analytical techniques for bulk-scale and nano-scale characterisation studies (XRD, SEM, TGA/DSC, Raman and NMR spectroscopy, calorimetry, laser light scattering technique for PSD, MIP). I am also interested in carbon offsets and life cycle assessment (LCA) of innovative infrastructure materials and engineering solutions.
I am the Director of the DURALAB, the first interdisciplinary durability testing facility in Wales, a “time-capsule”, capable of simulating hundreds of years of ageing and deterioration of materials in a matter of weeks.
#myresearch
Past and ongoing research activities and interests:
- low-carbon cements
- self-healing and bio-mimetic infrastructure materials
- recycled and recyclable building materials
- radionuclide immobilisation into cement minerals
- life cycle assessment (LCA) and carbon footprint analysis
- novel low-carbon (geo)materials
- in-situ concrete repair solutions
- in-situ and ex-situ thermal treatments of polluted soils and sediments.
#getintouch
Do you want to discuss your ideas with me? Get in touch via email or book directly a meeting (online or in person).
Biography
My Studies
- 2018: PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, UK
- 2018: PGCert in Researcher Professional Development, University of Strathclyde, UK
- 2013: Laurea Magistrale (MSc equivalent) in Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Catania, Italy
- 2011: Laurea in Civil and Environmental Engineering (BEng equivalent), University of Catania, Italy
Honours and awards
- 2022: Outstanding Contribution Award (OCA), Cardiff University, UK
- 2019: JSPS Fellowship at Tohoku University, Japan
- 2017: Marie Curie Research Visit (GREAT Project), Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
- 2014: Remediation Technologies (REMTECH) Best MScThesis Award, Ferrara, Italy
- 2009: Vulcanus in Japan, EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation.
Professional memberships
- Chartered Engineer (CEng), UK Engineering Council
- Chartered Scientist (CSci), UK Science Council
- Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), UK Society for the Environment
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
- Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM), awarded by the Project Management Institute (PMI)
- Member (MIMMM) of the Institute of Mineral, Materials and Mining (IOM3) since 2016
- Member (MIET) of the Intitution of Engineering and Technology (IET) since 2016
- RILEM Member since 2020
- Ingegnere Civile ed Ambientale (Chartered Civil Engineer equivalent, Italian Engineering Council).
Academic positions
- 2020 - present: Lecturer in Civil Engineering at Cardiff University, UK
- 2019: JSPS Postdoctoral fellow at Tohoku University, Japan
- 2017 - 2020: Research Associate and RM4L Project Manager, Cardiff University, UK
- 2017 - 2018: Visiting Researcher, University of Strathclyde, UK
- 2017: Research Assistant, University of Strathclyde, UK
- 2017: Visiting Researcher, Tsinghua University, PR China
- 2011-2012: Civil Engineer, Technoside Srl, Italy
- 2009-2010: Materials Engineer, Akebono Brake Co. Ltd, Japan
Speaking engagements
- 2022: ICSHM Conference, Milano, Italy
- 2021: RM4L2020 International Conference, Cardiff, UK
- 2020: 40th Cement and Concrete Science Conference (CCS), Sheffield, UK
- 2019: Seminar at the JSPS London Office, London, UK
- 2019: 39th Cement and Concrete Science Conference (CCS), Bath, UK
- 2019: Special Lecture at Tohoku University, Japan
- 2019: ICSHM Conference, Yokohama, Japan
- 2018: RAMS Conference, Cardiff, UK
- 2018: National Construction EXPO, MIlton Keynes, London, UK
- 2017: Seminar, School of Engineering, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
- 2017: Seminar, Research Meeting of the Institute of Building Materials, Tsinghua University, Beijing, PR China.
- 2016: 10th Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions (SAHC) Conference, Leuven, Belgium
- 2016: 36th Cement and Concrete Science (CCS) Conference, Cardiff, UK
- 2015: DISTINCTIVE Consortium, Conference, Sheffield, UK
- 2015: 35th Cement and Concrete Science (CCS) Conference, Aberdeen, UK.
Committees and reviewing
- Member of Cardiff University Race Equality Supervisory Panel (RESP)
- Co-Chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) Committee of School of Engineering, Cardiff University, UK
- Member of the EPSRC Reviewers College, JSPS London and Horizon EU
- Guest Editor and Journal Reviewer for Elsevier, Springer, MDPI, ASCE, ICE journals.
Publications
We are currently unable to retrieve the list of publications. Visit our institutional repository.Teaching
#2022/2023
- Materials and Construction (Year 1)
- Structural Engineering and Design (Year 2)
- 3rd Year project supervision
- MSc project supervision
Do you need help with calculations or tutorials? Get in touch via email or book directly a meeting (online or in person).
#funding |
||||
| Title | People | Funder | Value | Duration |
| WASC - Welsh Fly Ash for Sustainable Concrete | R Maddalena | Cardiff University | £7,000 | 03/2023-07/2023 |
| WasteReBuilt - Waste foundry Sand in Concrete | R Maddalena (PI), Fei Jin (Co-I) | IAA-EPSRC | £45,000 | 03/2023-02/2024 |
| Hygrothermal Monitoring of Timber-Frame Replacement Infill Panels | C Whitman (PI), R Maddalena (Co-I) | Historic England | £50,000 | 01/2023-12/2024 |
| Concrete MOT - Durability of concrete by means of electrical resistivity | R Maddalena (PI) | Cardiff University | £7,000 | 07/2022-06/2023 |
| QUANTUM EFFICIENCY HUB | B Hou (PI), R Maddalena (Co-I), |
HEFCW via CU |
£404,000 | 06/2022-04/2023 |
| Self-healing concrete structures in the context of enhancing the delivery of a major highway project | D Gardner (PI), R Maddalena (Co-I) |
National Highways |
£30,000 | 10/2021 - 10/2024 |
| Waste Valorisation in Concrete Production via CO2 Sequestration | Z Mingshan (PI), R Maddalena (Co-I), Fei Jin (Co-I) (and others) |
Building and Construction Authority (Singapore) |
$279,955 | 09/2022-03/2025 |
| DURALAB (Durability and Characterisation Lab) | R Maddalena (PI), (and others) |
HEFCW via CU |
£383,000 | 09/2021- 04/2022 |
| Resilient Materials 4 Life (RM4L) | T Jefferson (PI), R Maddalena (Co-I) (and others) | UKRI-EPSRC | £4,837,625 | 04/2017 - 04/2022 |
| TETCRETE 2.0 | R Maddalena (PI), J Sweeney (Co-I) | IAA-EPSRC | £19,500 | 06/2021 - 02/2022 |
| Themo-crete: thermal conductivity of building materials | R Maddalena (PI) | Cardiff University | £6,500 | 03/2021 - 07/2021 |
| CCK (Circular Cement in Kenya) | R Maddalena (PI), E Latif (Co-I), Joseph Marangu (Fellow) | UKRI - GCRF | £6,100 | 01/2021 - 04/2021 |
| FISH (Fibre-reinforced Self-Healing) Concrete | R Maddalena (Fellow), Tomoya Nishiwaki (Supervisor) | JSPS | £15,000 | 05/2019 - 08/2019 |
#internships |
||||
| Title | Student | Funder | Value | Duration |
| Materials for the future: low-carbon concrete and LCA | Borna Neghabat Shirazi | CUROP | £2,000 | 06/2022 - 09/2022 |
| DURALAB internship | Tanveer Chaudhry | ENGIN | £2,000 | 06/2022 - 07/2022 |
| Built2Future: Sustainable Building Materials to build a better Future | Simran Mahal | CUROP | £1,000 | 07/2021 - 08/2021 |
| Sustainability of Smart Concrete (SSC) | Zhening Huang | CUROP | £1,000 | 06/2020 - 08/2020 |
| Hydrophobic coatings of mortar paste | Robin Grosse | INP-ENSIACET (France) | Other | 06/2020 - 08/2020 |
| Self-healing of cementitious materials | Dan Incorvaja | CUROP | £1,000 | 08/2019 - 09/2019 |
| Self-healing knotted Shape Memory Polymer Fibres (k-SMP) in cement | Lorenzo Bonanno | Cardiff University | Other | 05/2018 - 08/2018 |
Do you want to discuss your ideas with me? Get in touch via email or book directly an online meeting.
Supervision
#SupervisedAreas
I am available to supervise PhD, MPhil students, project students (undergraduate and postgraduate), interns and visiting students on the following topics:
- Self-healing concrete
- Re-use of waste into concrete and mechanical behaviour
- Thermal analysis and thermal imaging of cementitious materials
- Chemistry of cement mortar and concrete
- Water transport in concrete
- Green low-carbon concrete
- Life Cycle Assessment and carbon footprint of infrastructure materials
- ...I am also open to other topics.
Note: Prospective research students (PhD, EngD, MPhil, MRes) should investigate potential funding and/or scholarships before getting in touch. The UK Government has made available the Doctoral Student Loans (up to £26,000 for UK and EU students). Explore also the Environmental Research and Education Foundation (EREF) PhD scholarships.
Do you want to discuss your ideas with me? Get in touch via email or book directly a meeting (online or in person).
#currentStudents |
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| Title | Student | Degree |
| Tetcrete for crack control and self-healing (with National Highways and Costain) | Thomas Moore | MPhil |
| Durability of self-compacting concrete | Ibrahim Degani | PhD |
| Sustainable self-compacting concrete and numerical modelling | Ayman Almutlaqah | PhD |
| Design and durability of low-carbon sustainable concrete | Ahmad Alhamdan | PhD |
Current supervision
Past projects
#internships |
||
| Title | Student | Year |
| Materials for the future: low-carbon concrete and LCA | Borna Neghabat Shirazi | 2022 |
| Biomimetic Concrete: tetcrete for crack control | Qistina Binti Zainal | 2022 |
| DURALAB Lab Manager Assistent (HS,E) | Tanveer Chaudhry | 2022 |
| Built2Future: Sustainable Building Materials to build a better Future | Simran Mahal | 2021 |
| Sustainability of Smart Concrete (SSC) | Zhening Huang | 2020 |
| Hydrophobic coatings of mortar paste | Robin Grosse | 2020 |
| Self-healing of cementitious materials | Dan Incorvaja | 2019 |
| Knotted Shape Memory Polymer Fibres (k-SMP) in concrete | Lorenzo Bonanno | 2018 |