Abir Al-Tabbaa facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Abir Al-Tabba
Abir Al-Tabbaa speaks on self-healing concrete at the World Economic Forum in 2016
Alma mater	University of Cambridge University of Bristol
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Birmingham University of Cambridge
Thesis	Permeability and stress-strain response of speswhite kaolin (1987)

Abir Al-Tabbaa is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Cambridge. She works on creating smart materials for buildings and roads. She also leads the Future Infrastructure and Built Environment Doctoral Training Centre, which helps train future engineers.

Early Life and Education

Abir Al-Tabbaa started her studies at the University of Bristol. She then went to the University of Cambridge for her Master's and PhD degrees. For her PhD, which she finished in 1987, she studied how a type of clay called Kaolinite reacts to stress and pressure.

After finishing her studies, Professor Al-Tabbaa worked as an engineer at a company called Ove Arup & Partners. She helped with big building projects, like the Charing Cross railway station and Ludgate Hill railway station. In 1991, she became a teacher at the University of Birmingham.

Amazing Research in Engineering

In 1997, Professor Al-Tabbaa returned to the University of Cambridge. She became a Fellow at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. Her main work is about making and testing new materials for civil engineering. Civil engineering is about designing and building things like roads, bridges, and buildings.

She is very interested in creating "low-carbon" buildings, which means they don't produce a lot of pollution. She also works on cleaning up polluted land. Professor Al-Tabbaa has developed new ways to understand different types of soil. She has written over 300 papers about her research! In 2003, she won the Mallik Medal from the Institution of Civil Engineers for her work on treating soil at a place called West Drayton.

Self-Healing Concrete

Professor Al-Tabbaa was part of a big project that created the Centre of Excellence on Intelligent Construction Materials. This center aimed to find ways to make buildings and roads last longer and cost less to fix.

One of the most exciting things her team developed is self-healing concrete. Imagine concrete that can fix its own cracks! This special concrete is inspired by nature, a field called Biomimetics. She even talked about this amazing invention at the World Economic Forum in 2016. This kind of material could make our buildings and roads much stronger and safer for a long time.

Helping the Engineering Community

Professor Al-Tabbaa has done a lot to help the field of engineering. She has written for New Civil Engineer magazine. She has also been on important committees, like those for the British Geotechnical Association.

In 2014, she became the Director of the Future Infrastructure and Built Environment Doctoral Training Centre. This center helps train new engineers to solve future challenges. She is also on the board of a journal called the American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. In 2014, she was made a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers. This is a big honor that shows how much she has helped both research and teaching in civil engineering.

Professor Al-Tabbaa also appeared on the The Naked Scientists radio show on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

Books She Has Written

• 2010 Rainfall Trends in India and Their Impact on Soil Erosion
• 2005 Stabilisation/Solidification Treatment and Remediation