Born to a mother who is a Doctorate in Soil mechanics, Priya Arul Kumar has always been inspired from childhood to have a career where she could bring a difference to the industry as well as make a worthy scientific contribution to this field. To ensure that she gained research experience right after obtaining her Bachelor’s degree she was provided with an opportunity to work alongside research scholars indulging in multi-faceted research ranging from corrosion sciences in reinforced concrete to understanding the basics of material research for the construction industry. Working in India as a Research Assistant at IIT Madras, she has experienced the life of a research scholar and the passion that is required to be tenacious and successful in this field. Finishing up her Master’s in Structural Engineering from Delft University of Technology, she looks forward to working as a PhD Scholar in collaboration with SMARTINCS consortium, striving towards bridging the gap between industry and research through studies involving fabrication of self-healing repair mortars that could prove to be sustainable along with showing great potential for real time applications.