Semion Zhutovsky

ACADEMIC DEGREES

• 2013: Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
• 2001:   M.Sc. in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
• 1999:   B.Sc. (Cum Laude) in Civil Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS

• 2016-present:  Assistant Professor, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
• 2014-2016:       Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• 2014:                Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• 2013:                Adjunct Lecturer, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
• 2007-2014:       Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
• 2000-2001:       Teaching Assistant, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.

PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Membership in International Committees

• 2018-present:  Member of RILEM Technical Committee CEC: Controlled expansion of concrete by adding MgO-based expansive agents taking the combined influence of composition and size of concrete elements into consideration.
• 2017-present:  Member of RILEM Technical Committee 281-CCC: Carbonation of concrete with supplementary cementitious materials.
• 2015-2018:     Management Committee Member of TUD COST Action TU1404, “Towards the next generation of standards for service life of cement-based materials and structures.”
• 2015-2017:      Member of RILEM Technical Committee 238-SCM (Hydration and microstructure of concrete with supplementary cementitious materials).
• 2007-2014:     Member of RILEM Technical Committee 225-SAP (Application of superabsorbent polymers in concrete construction).
• 2000-2001:     Contributed to RILEM Technical Committee 181-EAS (Early Age Cracking in Cementitious Systems).

Referee for Journals

• 2009-present: Materials and Structures
• 2009-present: Cement and Concrete Composites
• 2009-present: Construction and Building Materials
• 2009-present: Cement and Concrete Research
• 2015-2016:     Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering
• 2015-2016:     Construction International Journal of Pavement Engineering and others.

Membership of Conference Scientific Committees

• 2020:               The 3rd International RILEM Workshop On Concrete Durability and Service Life Planning, Haifa, Israel
• 2014:               International Conference “Application of superabsorbent polymers and other new admixtures in concrete construction”, Dresden, Germany.
• 2010:               International RILEM Conference on Use of Superabsorbent Polymers and Other New Additives in Concrete, Lyngby, Denmark.

MEMBERSHIP IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

• 2010-present: RILEM (International union of laboratories and experts in construction materials, systems and structures)
• 2007-2014:    ACI (American Concrete Institute)
• 2002-present: Registered Engineer (#1133939), Israel

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

• Physical and Climatic Performance of Buildings, Undergraduate, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, 2020-present.
• Advanced experimental methods for building materials, Graduate, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, newly developed course (2019-present).
• Engineering Laboratory, Undergraduate, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, 2017-present.
• Physical Performance of Buildings, Undergraduate, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, 2017-2019.
• Metals in Construction, Undergraduate, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, 2016-present.
• Concrete Technology, Graduate and Undergraduate, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Toronto, 2014.
• Durability of Building Materials and Structures, Graduate and Undergraduate, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, 2013.

Other teaching activities

1. Developing new course “Advanced experimental methods for building materials” introducing new experimental techniques to graduate students conducting research in the area of construction materials
2. Developing updated course “Physical and climatic performance of buildings” about the performance-based design of buildings using building physics and climatology for undergraduate students.
3. Lecturer at EuroTech Ph.D. Winter School “Concrete Life Cycle: from Cradle to Grave” (January 2020) organized jointly by the three universities – members of the EuroTech alliance.

GRADUATE STUDENTS

M.Sc. Completed

1. 2020, A. Goncharov, M.Sc., Israeli oil shales as an alternative raw material for Portland cement production, Civil and Env. Eng., Technion. Publications C25, C26, C29, C30, C33.

M.Sc. in progress

2. Gereziher, Development of autogenous curing method for normal-strength concrete, to be completed in 2021.

Ph.D. in progress

3. Kulish, Reactivation potential of residual unhydrated cement in construction waste and its use in new concrete, (Prof. Amnon Katz – secondary supervisor), to be completed in 2021. Publications: C29, R7.
4. Sabah, Development of cement-based materials with low production energy from local raw materials, to be completed in 2023.
5. Goncharov, Effect of sulfates on the rate of reaction and microstructure of hydration products of Belite, to be completed in 2024

RESEARCH GRANTS

1. 2018, The Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, “Oil shale as an energy source and raw material for the production of cement in Israel”, NIS 300,000, Semion Zhutovsky (PI).
2. 2019, The Ministry of Construction and Housing, “Recycling of concrete waste for the production of Portland cement clinker”, NIS 145,000, Semion Zhutovsky (PI).
3. 2019, The Ministry of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources, “Examination of lightweight aggregate manufacturing methods using Israeli raw materials”, NIS 195,000, Semion Zhutovsky (PI).
4. 2019, Israel Railways, “Failure of Prestressed Concrete Sleepers – Preliminary study”, NIS 20,000, Semion Zhutovsky (PI).
5. 2019, Peter Munk Research Institute, “Projectile penetration into a concrete medium: development of the optimal impactor shape as a function of concrete properties”, NIS 90,000, Semion Zhutovsky (PI).
6. 2020, The Ministry of Construction and Housing, “Recycling of concrete waste for the production of Portland cement clinker Stage II”, NIS 182,000, Semion Zhutovsky (PI).
7. 2021, The Ministry of Construction and Housing, “Development of environmentally-friendly cementitious materials made with recycled industrial by-products”, NIS 292,000, Semion Zhutovsky (PI).

Visit Research Laboratory website

Laboratory of alternative cementitious materials was founded at National Building Research Institute (NBRI) by Dr. Semion Zhutovsky at the Technion in 2017 to provide infrastructure and technical basis for the innovative research in the area of cementitious materials that continues over several decades in NBRI since its establishment. In addition to the existing proficiency of NBRI in studying mechanical and durability properties of cementitious materials, the laboratory provides capability and know-how in the research of cement production technology, optimization, and development.

The major topics of the current research conducted in the laboratory include recycling of concrete waste fines into new Portland cement clinker, producing traditional Portland cement from alternative materials to reduce CO2 emissions, self-healing cementitious materials, the study on optimization of supplementary cementitious materials by means of various activation techniques and their different combinations in ternary and quaternary blends, as well as producing alternative binders with reduced energy consumption and carbon footprints such as belite-rich cement, calcium-sulfate-aluminate cement, and belite-ye’elimite-ferrite cement.