Sivakumar Ramanathan, Ph.D
Assistant Professor of Practice in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Miami
2018 Recipient
Dr. Ramanathan is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Miami, where his research group works at the intersection of carbon-based materials, cement chemistry, polymer chemistry, and computational modelling.
As a student at the University of Miami, Siva, along with Dr. Prannoy Suraneni, were awarded the 2018 Fellowship on “Cement Particle Size Distributions that Optimize Workability, Hydration, Strength, and Shrinkage Properties,” focused on evaluating whether there exist particle size distributions that result in optimal properties for cement paste and mortar, specifically in terms of workability, hydration, and shrinkage. After earning his Ph.D., Siva was a post-doctoral researcher with Professors Jason Weiss and Burkan Isgor at Oregon State University.
Dr. Ramanathan’s current research efforts focus on evaluating emerging technologies that include residues from forest and agricultural wastes such as functionalized biochar, lignin-based hydrogels, and cellulose nanomaterials for developing durable and resilient concrete mixtures. Dr. Ramanathan is passionate about educating and mentoring the next generation of engineers in concrete materials and translating laboratory research into industry-ready technologies. He has been recognized for his research contributions through several awards and honors, including being selected as one of the ACI representatives at the Emerging Leaders Alliance (2024), Outstanding Graduate Student in the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at University of Miami (2021), American Coal Ash Association Education Foundation Scholarship (2020), Slag Cement Association Research Project of the Year (2020), University of Miami Tier I Academic Excellence, Leadership, and Service Award (2020), and the University of Miami Graduate School Dissertation Fellowship (2020).
Dr. Ramanathan is an active member of ACI committees 231, Properties of Concrete at Early Ages; 236, Material Science of Concrete; 240 and 240-TG2, Pozzolans; 243, Seawater Concrete; and Students and Young Professionals Activities Committee (SYPAC). He is also an active member in ASTM committees C01 on Cement and C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates, and the RILEM Technical Committee TC-MCA, Mechano-chemical activation of cementitious constituents.
