About Didier Snoeck

Concrete, repair thyself

Ever wondered what the most widely-used human made material is? Dating back to antiquity, and ever since used for the construction of giants structuctures, ‘concrete’ has left an undeniable mark on society—from the Pantheon, over the Hoover Dam to the Burj Khalifa. This seemingly boring, grey material is all around us,  but it has one downside. At low tensile strength, micro-cracks can easily originate resulting in ingress of potentially harmful substances which deteriorate concrete from inside. Demanding costly maintenance that is not at all times successful, dr. ir. Didier Snoeck researches opportunities to tackles this problem. He and his team at the Magnel Laboratory for Concrete Research, have come up with a particularly durable and sustainable solution: a concrete with self-healing capacity mimicking the human body. It may seem like an unusual or small improvement, but the consequences for us and our economy can be enormous. How? Check out his talk, entitled “Concrete, repair thyself” on TEDxUHasselt 2018, and discover the fascinating property of this revolutionary material.