Dr John Temitope Kolawole BSc, MSc, PhD, MIMMM, MICT, MRILEM

• PhD in Civil Engineering, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, 2020
• MSc in Building Structures, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, 2015
• BSc (First Class Honours) in Building, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, 2010
• Senior Member, International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM)
• Member, Institute of Materials, Minerals, and Mining (IMMM)
• Member, Institute of Concrete Technology (ICT)
• Member, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB)
• Registered Builder, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON)

John’s 15+ year career is intertwined between research, development, and practice, as an academic and a brief time in industry as a graduate engineer (2 years).He graduated with a First-Class Honours BSc (5-year full-time degree) in Building in 2010 and MSc (2-year full-time degree) in Building Structures in 2015 at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Nigeria. John completed his PhD in January 2020 and briefly worked as a ‘Consolidoc’ Postdoctoral Fellow at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, before joining Loughborough University in July 2020 as a Postdoctoral Research Associate. Before this, John was a lecturer at OAU for three years, positively impacting the next generation of graduates for academic excellence.

In December 2022, he was awarded the prestigious Vice Chancellor Independent Research Fellowship at Loughborough University to explore innovative solutions to the inherent lagging performance of 3D-printed concrete. Shortly afterwards, he became a Fellow of Research England’s C-DICE (the UK’s most significant investment in postdoctoral development) and a member of its Advisory Board. John joined the University of Birmingham in 2025 as an Assistant Professor in Structural Engineering, specialising in Infrastructure Materials and Applied Rheology.

He is currently active in several research themes (see Research section), with 50+ publications, working with international collaborators, developing innovative test methods for concrete applications, and establishing advanced cement science and concrete technology. He also consults for companies working with concrete, creating impact in industrial applications and knowledge transfer. He has worked on UK-funded multimillion projects with multidisciplinary collaboration, organising across the consortium; successfully supervised/mentored research students, supported international visiting researchers, and participated in organising international conferences and workshops (e.g., DC2022).

John is actively involved in professional bodies, such as RILEM, and their technical committees, developing research/industry standards on construction and concrete materials. He completed his TWAS-funded PhD investigating the roles of rheology in the plastic settlement/shrinkage cracking of early-age concrete, advancing the fundamental understanding of concrete behaviour. His work received four prominent awards and delivered six Q1 journal papers, one conference paper, and several presentations.

Over the course of his career, John has been recognised as an exceptional and excellent professional with numerous awards, including:

• The Vice-Chancellor’s Annual Awards, Winner for EDI Enhancement as part of The Network of Networks (International Staff Group Lead Committee), Loughborough University, 2025
• School’s annual reward for exceptional performance, Loughborough University, 2023 & 2024
• Early Career Researcher’s Excellence, recognition award by the Vice Chancellor of Loughborough University, 2024
• Award of Excellence for Top Guest Speaker at the International Conference of the Society of Cement and Concrete Researchers in Nigeria, University of Ibadan, 2024
• Fellow and Advisory Board Membership, Research England’s C-DICE, 2023 - 2025
• Best Poster Award, Digital Concrete 2022, 3rd RILEM International Conference, 2022
• C-DICE Energy Storage sandpit training/attendance, 2022
• HL Reitz Medal & AECOM Prize for best Postgraduate in Civil Engineering, 2020
• RILEM PhD Grant for the 74th RILEM Week and 40th Cement & Concrete Science Conference, 2020
• RILEM Gold Medal and Award for exceptional technical content of PhD Poster, 2019
• Unit for Construction Materials PhD grant award, under Pretoria Portland Cement, 2017
• VolkswagenStiftung Foundation and BAM travel grant for KEYS symposium, 2015
• NYSC Certificate of National Service, Nigeria, 2012
• Faculty award of excellence for first-class honours graduates, 2012
• Chief Layi Balogun Prize for best graduating student in BSc Building, 2011
• Fatai Osikoya Prize for the Best Final Year Building Student in the Faculty, 2011
• First position award for university-wide student debate, SIWES, 2008

Dr Kolawole has vast experience teaching modules related to structures and materials. Before joining the University of Birmingham, specific modules he has contributed to the teaching and learning include ‘Innovation and Advanced Construction’, ‘Low Carbon Materials for Construction’, ‘Strength of Materials’, ‘Theory of Structures’, and ‘Design of Concrete Structures’. Currently, he contributes to teaching ‘Materials Engineering I’ at the Department of Civil Engineering, which includes hands-on work with students in experimental and laboratory testing. He also supervises MSc students on advanced construction materials.

Dr Kolawole is interested in supervising candidates focused on advanced construction materials and applications. Works related to his areas of focus are welcome, including:

• Carbon sequestration in construction materials
• Interaction of binder systems with functional materials at the microstructural level
• Advances in low-carbon cement chemistry
• Rheo-physical behaviour of novel and sustainable binder systems
• Applications of machine learning for infrastructure materials
• 3D concrete printing
• Early-age durability (shrinkage and settlement) problems in concrete
• Advanced concrete technology across multiple scales

If you're interested in studying any of these areas, contact John using the details above. He is currently accepting PhD students and welcomes inquiries and ideas from researchers interested in related projects and opportunities.

John’s research spans fundamental science, innovation, and practical applications. In his former role as a materials and rheology specialist, he contributed to the world’s pioneering and UK-leading group advancing 3D concrete printing (3DCP) technology, delivering the world’s first 3D-printed cantilevered bus canopy. His work also made a scientific discovery pertaining to the origins of printed concrete’s anisotropy, explaining the performance issues. This breakthrough led to his funded research fellowship, which explored an enzymatic solution to improve the performance of printed concrete.

However, the impact of his expertise is beyond 3DCP; he specialises in the development, characterisation, and performance optimisation of next-generation cementitious and concrete materials, with a strong focus on sustainability, durability, and advanced manufacturing methods. His work bridges material science, chemistry, rheology, and data-driven designs that support the transition towards sustainable, resilient, and smart built environment, advancing fundamental knowledge and innovation in:

• Sustainable construction materials

A core area of John’s expertise lies in sustainable cement and concrete solutions. He works extensively on low-carbon cements, including the underlying chemistry that governs their hydration, microstructure development, and long-term performance. His research contributes to carbon sequestration strategies, both through CO₂-reactive binders and optimizing concrete mixes for mineral carbonation. He also focuses on functional materials, engineering enhanced properties such as improved self-healing and self-sensing capabilities, for multifunctional structural health monitoring and repair. Another key component of his work is valorising industrial and agricultural wastes in cement matrices—transforming by-products into high-value construction materials that reduce environmental impact while maintaining or improving performance.

• Applied rheology

Rheology is the study of the flow and deformation of matter, primarily in fluid and soft-solid states. This is central to understanding and controlling (fresh and plastic-state) behaviour of concrete, and John specialises in the rheology of binder systems across multiple scales of composites: cement pastes, mortars, concrete, and engineered materials, investigating from the fundamentals of microscale particle interactions to system-scale flow properties and static stability. His work further involves developing advanced materials and new methods for active rheology control and testing protocols, respectively, enabling tailored properties for applications such as mixing, pumping, spraying, extrusion, and 3D printing. This expertise supports both traditional casting operations and next-generation manufacturing technologies.

• Advanced concrete construction and applications

John’s expertise encompasses modern methods of construction, such as 3D concrete printing and robotic concrete spraying. This includes developing specialised concrete, where precise rheological control and material optimisation are essential for pumpability, extrudability, buildability, early-age behaviour, and long-term performance for mono/dual-component (1K/2K) and subtractive postprocessing systems. His works further extend to advanced applications such as ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), strain-hardening cementitious composites (SHCC), smart concrete, self-compacting concrete (SCC), and high-performance concrete (HPC), designing sustainable compositions that achieve exceptional strength, durability, and ductility through optimized particle packing, flowability enhancement, fibre-reinforcement strategies, and advanced binder chemistry. He tailors these highly specialised materials and techniques, which go beyond conventional structural purposes, to meet the demands of modern construction, solve complex engineering challenges, and support bespoke applications. 

• Concrete durability

John studies the mechanisms of concrete degradation to improve its long-term performance. This entails the full cycle of infrastructure service life, from early-age phenomena such as shrinkage and plastic-settlement cracking, which are key to structural integrity, to later-age environmental exposure, such as freeze-thaw and chemical attack, which accelerate deterioration. These investigations and knowledge guide service-life modelling, especially for newer sustainable cements, fostering confidence in their performance and guiding material selection to mitigate damage from cyclic seasonal effects and aggressive environments, such as sulphates, chlorides, carbonation, and moisture.

• Machine learning for concrete performance

John integrates machine learning and broader artificial intelligence applications on construction materials research and practice to predict performance, optimize mix designs, accelerate material innovation, and enhance concrete construction. This includes data-driven frameworks for strength, durability indicators, rheological behaviour, sustainability metrics, and construction methods. By combining experimental data with computational tools, he helps develop innovative and more efficient pathways for sustainable concrete.

Recently completed research projects

• Vice Chancellor Independent Research Fellowship – On the anisotropy of 3D printed concrete (as PI), 2023 – 2025
• Innovate UK Award, UK-Nigeria Sustainable Construction Lead Customer Programme (£10K), 2025
• Networking Grant, Research England’s C-DICE for travel to Nigeria and Kenya collaborations (£5K), 2024
• EPSRC DfM:3DCP – Design-for-manufacture of 3D concrete printed structural composites, (as PDRA), 2020 – 2023
• EPSRC 3DCP:HCP – Manufacturing integrated building components using digital hybrid concrete printing technology (as PDRA), 2020 – 2022
• Stellenbosch University ‘Consolidoc’ Fellowship Program, 2020
• NRF-TWAS Doctoral Fellowship (SFH160522165795) – UNESCO’s The World Academy of Sciences competitive PhD funding, 2017 – 2019

• Assessors Pool, Royal Academy of Engineering, 2024 – Present
• Technical Committees member, RILEM, 2019 – Present

321-UMW: Upcycling Powder Mineral “Wastes” into Cement Matrices; 304-ADC: Assessment of Additively Manufactured Concrete Materials and Structures; 303-PFC: Performance requirements and testing of fresh printable cement-based materials; 284-CEC: Controlled expansion of concrete by adding MgO-based expansive agents

• Advisory Board, Research England’s Centre for Postdoctoral Development in Infrastructure, Cities, and Energy (C-DICE), 2023 – 2025
• Peer reviewer, Fourth RILEM International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication, Germany, 2024
• Peer reviewer, C-DICE Postdoctoral Fellowship applications, 2023
• Scientific Committee, Young Concrete Researchers, Engineers, Technologists Symposium (YCRETS), Concrete Society of South Africa, 2023
• Organising Committee, 3rd RILEM International Conference on Digital Fabrication with Concrete – Digital Concrete 2022
• Session chair, 3rd RILEM International Conference on Digital Fabrication with Concrete, 2022
• Organiser, RILEM PhD course on 3D concrete printing, International Conference on Concrete and Digital Fabrication, Loughborough, 2022
• Consultancy on concrete materials (Lafeza Ltd, Cloud Cycle Ltd, Laing O’Rourke), 2022 – 2025
• External examiner for PhD theses, University of Witwatersrand and University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 2024
• Invited speaker for seminars, symposiums, and conferences, 2022 - Present

RILEM Spring Convention (Morocco); Loughborough’s Institute of Advanced Studies; Society of Cement and Concrete Researchers in Nigeria; National Postdoc Conference UK; University of Lagos; University of Loughborough

• Invited Reviewer for several leading journals (in Elsevier, Springer, ASCE, MDPI, etc.), 2017 – Present

Cement and Concrete Research, Automation in Construction, Carbon Capture Science & Technology, Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, Construction and Building Materials, Journal of Building Engineering, Materials and Structures, Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, MRS Advances, International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology, European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Applied Science, Materials, Sustainability, Engineering Sustainability, Engineering and Computational Mechanics, Advances in Civil Engineering, Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, Advances in Engineering Software.