The Grainger College of Engineering

Nishant Garg

Nishant Garg
Nishant Garg
  • Assistant Professor
(217) 300-9448
2129 Newmark Civil Engineering Bldg

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Education

  • Ph.D. in Nanoscience at Aarhus University, 2015 [PhD Advisor: Prof. Jorgen Skibsted]
  • M.S. in Civil Engineering Materials at Iowa State University, 2012 [MS Advisor: Prof. Kejin Wang]
  • B.E. in Civil Engineering at Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology, 2010
  • Diploma in Civil Engineering at Chandigarh College of Eng. & Tech., 2007

Biography

Nishant Garg is an Assistant Professor in the CEE department working on the chemistry and characterization of construction materials.

Previously, he was a Lecturer and Postdoctoral Researcher at Princeton University where he applied X-ray and neutron scattering to characterize novel and sustainable cements. He obtained his Ph.D. in Nanoscience at Aarhus University, Denmark in 2015 where he used solid-state NMR to study cements and clay minerals. With his multi-disciplinary background in chemistry, materials science, and civil engineering he has spent his research career in developing a fundamental understanding of sustainable, durable, and environment-friendly cement-based materials.

Academic Positions

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 10/2018 - Present
  • Lecturer, Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials, Princeton University, 01/2018 - 06/2018
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, 01/2016 - 10/2018 [Postdoc Advisor: Prof. Claire White]

Graduate Research Opportunities

I'm actively looking for multiple graduate students (MS & Ph.D.) to join my research group. If you're interested, please apply online and mention your interest to work with me in your formal application.

Research Areas

Selected Articles in Journals

  • Min, Y.; Kabir, H.; Kothari, C.; Iqbal, M.F.; Garg, N.; "UR2: Ultra-Rapid Reactivity Test for Real-Time, Low-Cost Quality Control of Calcined Clays." Cement and Concrete Research, 2025
  • Kabir, H.; Wu, J.; Dahal, S.; Joo, T.; Garg, N.; "Automated Estimation of Cementitious Sorptivity via Computer Vision." Nature Communications, 2024.
  • Kothari, C.; Garg, N.; "Quantitative Phase Analysis of Anhydrous Portland Cement via Combined X-ray Diffraction and Raman Imaging: Synergy and Impact of Analysis Parameters." Cement and Concrete Research, 2024.
  • Polavaram, K.C. and Garg, N.; "Elucidating the size and shape of individual clinker phases via Raman imaging." The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 127, 34, 17157-17170, 2023. (Featured on journal cover for August 2023 issue)
  • Polavaram, K. C. and Garg, N.; “Enabling phase quantification of anhydrous cements via Raman imaging.” Cement and Concrete Research, 150:106592, 2021.

Conferences Organized or Chaired

  • Co-chair of 10th Advances in Cement-based Materials Conference, of American Ceramic Society, Cements Division scheduled in Urbana, Illinois for June 2019.
  • Co-organizer of the session on cementitious materials in the division of Geochemistry at 253rd American Chemical Society meeting in San Francisco, California, April 2017

Professional Societies

  • Committee Research Coordinator, Standing Committee AKM 50 'Advanced Concrete Materials and Characterization', Transportation Research Board (TRB), 2025 - Present
  • Vice-Chair, ASCE EMI Committee 'Properties of Materials', 2024 - Present
  • Member, American Society of Testing and Materials, 2022 - Present
  • Member, American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE), 2022 - Present
  • Member, The International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM), 2021 - Present
  • Member, American Concrete Institute (ACI), 2019 - Present
  • Member, American Ceramic Society, 2016 - Present

Service on Department Committees

  • Member, NSEL Advisory Committee (2020 - 2021)
  • Member, CEE Advisory Committee (2020 - Present)
  • Graduate Admissions Coordinator, Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure Systems (2020-Present)
  • Member, CEE Grad Affairs Committee (2020 - Present)

Teaching Honors

  • Princeton ''Writing in Science & Engineering'' Teaching Fellowship (2017)

Research Honors

  • Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research (Assistant Professor, UIUC) (2025)
  • Stephen Brunauer Award, American Ceramic Society (ACerS) (2021)
  • Journal of European Ceramic Society (JECS) Trust Grant (2018)

Recent Courses Taught

  • CEE 300 (TAM 324) - Behavior of Materials
  • CEE 502 - Advanced Cement Chemistry
  • CEE 595 EWS - Energy Wtr Environment Sustain
  • CEE 595 EWS - EWES Seminar

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