Costain : Top Award for Oliver

13 October 2016

Costain's Oliver Teall recently walked away with a top award from an international PhD civil engineering symposium in Japan.

Oliver is currently in the third and final year of his post-doctoral studies at Cardiff University, combining his role as a Civil Engineer with conducting research into self-healing concrete as part of the Materials 4 Life (M4L) project.

M4L is examining the use of 'self-healing' concrete to combat damage in structures. It aims to create a system which repairs itself without human intervention. Oliver will submit his thesis this month.

Oliver was invited to go to Japan to present his findings to the International Federation for Structural Concrete's (FIB) 11th International PhD Symposium in Civil Engineering at the University of Tokyo.

The FIB is a not-for-profit association committed to advancing the technical, economic, aesthetic and environmental performance of concrete structures worldwide. The PhD Symposium in Civil Engineering gives PhD students an opportunity to share information with the international research community. Researchers and industry representatives from all over the world gather to present information and share their research experience.

Oliver presented his research, including the results of the site trials which took place at Costain's construction site at the Heads of the Valleys Road (A465) in Blaenau Gwent.

The judging panel was impressed with Oliver's presentation and awarded him the 'Best Lecture Award' in his category. He was also recognised as one of the best five presentations of the whole symposium out of a total of 105 speakers.

Oliver said: 'I'm thrilled to have been recognised as one of the best speakers at the symposium, especially with such strong competition from across the world. The organisers from FIB were genuinely interested in the research and asked some challenging questions, which lead to a productive discussion on the future of concrete technology.'

Tim Embley, Costain Group's Knowledge and Innovation Manager, said: 'Oliver will be the first PhD student to graduate from Costain's prestigious training programme. His focus on developing advanced material to extend asset life demonstrates we are focused on providing innovative solutions for our customers that are enabled by our leading capability, and understanding how technology can be implemented to solve our customer's most pressing challenges.'

For more information about the FIB, please click here.

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