ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. UBAGARAM JOHNSON ALENGARAM |
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Associate Professor | |||
Department of Civil Engineering | |||
Faculty of Engineering | |||
+603 7967 7632 | |||
+603 7967 5318 | |||
johnson@um.edu.my | |||
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, W.Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | |||
Homepage |
http://umexpert.um.edu.my/johnson.html | ||
Publons Link |
https://publons.com/researcher/1674032/u-johnson-alengaram/ | ||
Scopus ID Link |
http://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.url?authorId=26533874300 |
Associate Professor Dr U. Johnson Alengaram is the Director of Centre for Innovative Construction Technology (CICT), a Research Centre under the Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He obtained his Bachelor of Civil Engineering from the University of Madras, India. He is also a Chartered Civil Engineer of world-renowned Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE, UK) and the Engineering Council (UK); he is also a Companion member of Institution of Engineer Malaysia (CIEM), and a member of the American Concrete Society (ACI-Kuala Lumpur Chapter) and a life member of the Concrete Society of Malaysia (CSM). His current Web of Science (WoS) h-index stands at 31 with the publication of over 140 publications in refereed journals and conferences. He is instrumental in starting the University of Malaya's Institution of Civil Engineers Student Chapter (UMICESC) in 2015 and currently, he is the staff Advisor; UMICESC serves as the professional body for the undergraduate students to enhance their professional career and attitude.
In his Master of Engineering in Structural Engineering, as part of his MEng thesis, he utilized jute as a sustainable replacement material for conventional wood. His MEng research project was acclaimed as one of the best innovative works and the specimens of his research project-Jute Sandwiched Plywood was displayed at the International Exhibition held in Delhi, India. Dr Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister of India (then Union Finance Minister) who inaugurated the exhibition had a special word for his work on jute; he continued his research for his doctoral research using sustainable industrial by-products and investigated mechanical and structural behaviour that provided in-sight into vital characteristics on the ductility behaviour of oil palm shells-that he went on to develop as a blast-resistant concrete-using oil palm shell as a whole replacement for normal aggregate.
Assoc. Professor Dr U. Johnson Alengaram has been in academic, consultancy, research, and administration for over twenty years and contributed to society in different capacities in India, Bahrain, and Malaysia. His current research involves the utilization of industrial by-products and waste materials in concrete, lightweight aggregate, material characteristics, lightweight aggregate concrete, foamed concrete, geopolymer concrete and impact & blast-resistant concrete; his experimental works revolve around investigations on the microstructural behaviour, mechanical properties and durability characteristics, structural behaviour, functional behaviour etc. He has supervised many Master of Engineering Science and Doctoral candidates to the successful completion of their degrees.
He is the recipient of outstanding achievement awards in most of the Institutions he served. He and his research team won gold and silver medals at international and national exhibitions on concrete engineering & technology. He was the Project Director of two housing projects at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia that utilized industrial by-products. His decade long research work on geopolymer concrete enabled him and his team to construct the second housing project on the cement-free superstructure-with the collaboration of Vinci Construction, a French-based construction conglomerate; this house is currently being used by bus drivers and serves as a research hub.
He received numerous research grants from the University of Malaya research fund, the ministry of higher education Malaysia, national and international grants including prestigious Newton-Ungku Omar Coordination Fund: UK-Malaysia Research & Innovation Bridges Competition. He has a research collaboration with various universities in Malaysia, Australia, Bahrain, Brazil, China, France, Germany, United Kingdom, India, Japan, Jordan, Oman, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. He has been invited by various Universities in different countries to give the keynote lectures in international conferences, seminars, and research workshops.
Assoc. Prof. Dr U. Johnson Alengaram serves as an Associate Editor in the Australian Journal of Civil Engineering, Editorial Board Member of International Journal of Earth Sciences and Engineering (IJEE), Chairperson of SIRIM Committee for "Eco Labelling of Criteria for Reused By-Products Aggregates", and reviewer of multiple international journals. He has organized workshops, conferences, seminars and trained school students to win local and international awards; further, as the Director of CICIT, he has pioneered the activities of the centre to contribute to the society and thus many national and international researchers and students are being trained on a regular basis in the centre. He has been Organizing Secretary, Co-Chair, Chair and Advisor of International Conferences and Workshops.