Conference

SMARTINCS’23 Conference on Self-Healing, Multifunctional and Advanced Repair Technologies in Cementitious Systems

We happily look back to 22 and 23 May 2023 when the SMARTINCS’23 conference on Self-Healing, Multifunctional and Advanced Repair Technologies in Cementitious Systems took place in Ghent, Belgium. The conference brought together more than 100 international experts who had the opportunity to attend 70 presentations in the field of self-healing, repair, non-destructive testing, grouting and corrosion inhibition. 
The conference chairs and the organising committee evaluated all presentations and made a shortlist of the best ones. Gerlinde Lefever, Christos Vlachakis, Sina Sayadi, Shan He, Aurélie Van Wylick, Vanessa Giaretton Cappellesso, Yaxin Tao, Padmapriya Arul Kumar, Mohammad Houshmand Khaneghahi, and Chihiro Kobayashi were honoured with an outstanding research award for the work they presented.
The conference papers have been published by MATEC Web of Conferences. They are open access available from: https://www.matec-conferences.org/articles/matecconf/abs/2023/05/contents/contents.html 
This event was a great success thanks to our keynote speakers, organising committee, scientific committee and volunteers. The organisation would not have been possible without the support of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, fwo and RILEM.

Overview

On 22 and 23 May 2023 we are organizing the conference SMARTINCS’23 on Self-Healing, Multifunctional and Advanced Repair Technologies in Cementitious Systems. SMARTINCS trains a new generation of entrepreneurial early-stage researchers (ESRs) in prevention of deterioration of (1) new concrete infrastructure by innovative, multifunctional self-healing strategies; and (2) existing concrete infrastructure by advanced repair technologies. 15 ESRs are being trained by the consortium to implement new life-cycle thinking and durability-based approaches to the design of concrete structures, minimizing the use of resources and production of waste, in line with Europe’s Circular Economy strategy.

SMARTINCS’23 will not only be a forum for the dissemination of SMARTINCS results, but also an opportunity for all worldwide research groups in this field to come together and present their ongoing research.

Conference Topics

This conference focusses on self-healing, multifunctional and advanced repair technologies in cementitious systems. Based on this global topic, the following sub-topics have been defined:

• Self-healing cementitious materials
• (Advanced) repair technologies of concrete structures
• Non-destructive testing of cementitious materials
• Self-sensing, monitoring and inspection of concrete structures and infrastructure
• Service life design and life cycle assessment of concrete structures and infrastructure
• Innovative solutions for service life extension of concrete structures and infrastructure
• Corrosion inhibition solutions of reinforcement steel
• Cementitious grouting technologies
• Computational modelling related to self-healing and repair of cementitious materials
• Commercialization of innovative cement-based construction materials and building technologies
• Automated techniques for repair of concrete structures and infrastructure

Venue

The conference will take place in Ghent, Belgium. As can be found on Tripadvisor “Ghent's city center is a pedestrian area that is like a museum to early Flemish architecture and a testament to the city's medieval might. Impressive Gothic sites, such as dramatic St. Bavo's Cathedral and the Castle of the Counts, inspire awe.” Not convinced? Read this recent article in the Washington Post!

The conference venue will be “Het Pand”, a former monastery of the Dominican Order. The building dates back to the 13th century when it served as a hospital.

In order to encourage networking and lively discussions, we aim only at in person presentations (i.e. no possibility to join online).

Keynote speakers

 We proudly present our keynote speakers. Click on the respective title to read more about their keynote presentation.

Dates and submission

Registration

The registration fee includes coffee breaks, lunches, conference dinner, farewell reception and publication of the paper in MATEC Web of Conferences.

Presenting authors need to register by 1^st of April  2023 to ensure that the papers can be included in the proceedings.

Please be aware that the conference registration will close on Sunday May 14th, 2023.

Practical information

For speakers: presentations are scheduled to be 12 min, followed by 3 min of questions. There is no template document that you should follow. Presentations should be uploaded on the computer in the room no later than 10 min before the start of your session.

Travelling to Ghent (or “Gent” in the native tongue) is easy via a short train ride (30-60 min, depending on the line) from Brussels (Airport). There are two large train stations in Ghent: “Gent Sint-Pieters” and “Gent Dampoort”. Gent Sint-Pieters is the major transportation hub. When arriving in Brussels Airport Zaventem you follow the signs for the station which is in the basement of the airport building. People arriving in Charleroi Airport can most conveniently reach Ghent by the Flibco shuttlebus which stops at Gent Sint-Pieters train station. From the Gent Sint-Pieters station, tram line 1 runs directly into the city center.

The conference location is Het Pand (Onderbergen 1, Gent).

The registration starts on Monday 22 May at 8h30. The conference will start at 9h00 sharp.

Proceedings

The proceedings of the SMARTINCS’23 Conference on Self-Healing, Multifunctional and Advanced Repair Technologies in Cementitious Systems have been published by Matec Web of Conferences with volume number 378 (2023). The editors of the proceedings, Tim Van Mullem, Nele De Belie, Liberato Ferrara, Elke Gruyaert and Kim Van Tittelboom, thank the Scientific Committee for their extensive work in reviewing every submission.

Each paper has received an individual DOI. The proceedings can be retrieved from here.

SMARTINCS special issue in the journal of Developments in the Built Environment

SMARTINCS is currently hosting a special issue in the journal of Developments in the Built Environment (impact factor 8.2). The special issue collects journal articles on “Self-Healing, Multifunctional and Advanced Repair Technologies in Cementitious Systems” and is edited by dr. Van Mullem, prof. Gruyaert, prof. Van Tittelboom, and prof. De Belie (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/developments-in-the-built-environment/about/call-for-papers#self-healing-multifunctional-and-advanced-repair-technologies-in-cementitious-systems). Developments in the Built Environment was specifically chosen because it is an high-impact open access journal. Currently, twelve papers have already been published in the special issue (https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/developments-in-the-built-environment/special-issue/10FLT28KWXM), while a few papers are still undergoing review. The special issue was closed for submissions since 15 March 2024.