Prof. KONSTANTIN KOVLER, PhD
Head of the Department "Building Materials, Performance and Technology"
National Building Research Institute
Department of Structural Engineering and Construction Management
Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Technion - Israel Institute of Technology
Co-leader, Research Center "Sustainable World", Guangdong-Technion
Born in 1957 (Moscow, USSR). Israeli citizen since 1990. PhD in Structural Engineering (Moscow State University of Civil Engineering, 1986). Works at the Technion since 1991.
Research interests: high-performance building materials; non-destructive testing; durability; shrinkage and creep of concrete; early age concrete; internal curing of concrete, gypsum of improved water resistance; gypsum-cement interaction; supplementary cementitious materials; advanced and non-traditional chemical admixtures; fiber-reinforced materials; natural stone; recycling industrial residues in construction; radioactivity of building materials and radon mitigation.
Editing two international journals (Materials & Structures, Cement & Concrete Composites). Edited Special Issues of Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, and of Construction and Building Materials. Fellow (2006) and Honorary member (2022) of RILEM – International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures, member of ACI – American Concrete Institute and ENA – European NORM Association. Organized several RILEM conferences, including those on Early Age Concrete (EAC’1 in 2001 and EAC’2 in 2017) and on Concrete Durability and Service Life Planning (ConcreteLife-2006, ConcreteLife-2009 and ConcreteLife-2020). Co-organized the Symposium “Use of By-Products in Construction: Dealing with Natural Radioactivity” (2017, Rome).
Active member of several European Concerted Research Actions related to construction materials and ecology: TU1301 "NORM for building materials - network", TU1404 "Towards the next generation of standards for service life of cement-based materials and structures", CA15115 MINEA "Mining the European anthroposphere", CA15202 SARCOS "Self-healing as preventive repair of concrete structures", and CA18112 "Mechanochemistry for sustainable industry".
Organizer and teacher in several RILEM PhD Courses (Australia, China, Denmark, Mexico, Northern Macedonia, Russia, Slovakia, Israel).
Teaches numerous courses for undergraduate and graduate students ("Building Materials", "Building Materials and Processes", "Construction with Metals - Materials and Technology", "Composite Materials in Construction", "Advanced Chapters in Cementitious Systems", "Engineering Laboratory", "Recycling in Construction" - selected lectures, "Durability of Building Materials and Structures", "Laboratory Project in Building Materials", "Non-Destructive Testing of Concrete", “Radiation Safety in Construction”).
Chairs several expert committees in the Israeli Institute of Standards. National representative in the Technical Committee of International Standardization Organization (ISO) on Radiological Protection, member of the working group “Radiation Measurements”.
Reviewer of technical papers and research projects for more than 60 international peer-refereed journals and research foundations. Has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in international journals, and more than 80 papers in proceedings of international conferences, authored/edited more than 30 books and book chapters. Authored six patents and patent applications.
Combines teaching and research activities with consulting for the construction industry and governmental ministries. Consulted on strengthening technology and materials durability of the 20-km dike under brine attack (Dead Sea Works Ltd., Israel, 2011-2012), on concrete technology of high-strength concrete (first time in Israel) for 54-storey building in Tel-Aviv, Sarona Project, (WXG Ltd., Israel, since 2013). Official consultant of the Israeli Port Authority on concrete technology for marine structures and durability in Hamifratz Port Terminal, Haifa, and Hadarom Port Terminal, Ashdod (since 2012), and of Israel Electric Corporation (since 2019). Advisor of the National Coal Ash Board and Nesher – Israel Cement Enterprises Ltd.
