The Grainger College of Engineering

Nishant Garg

Nishant Garg
Nishant Garg
  • Associate Professor
(217) 300-9448
2129 Newmark Civil Engineering Building

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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 Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining Illinois in 2018, he completed his postdoctoral research at Princeton University from 2016 to 2018 and earned his Ph.D. in Nanoscience from Aarhus University, Denmark, in 2015.

At Illinois, his research group focuses on the chemistry of construction materials using advanced characterization techniques. He has pioneered novel methods that accelerate and automate testing of cement-based materials, reducing test durations from several days to a few minutes.

His research efforts have been recognized by numerous awards, including the 2021 ‘Stephen Brunauer Award’ and 2025 ‘Early Career Award’ from the American Ceramic Society. In 2025, he received the ‘Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research’ at Illinois. 

Academic Positions

  • Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 08/2025 - Present
  • Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, 10/2018 - 08/2025
  • 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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