Nemkumar (Nemy) Banthia obtained his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia in 1987. He was inducted as a Distinguished University Scholar at UBC in 2003 and was appointed as a Senior Canada Research Chair in Infrastructure Rehabilitation and Sustainability in 2006. He also leads the Canada-India Research Center of Excellence (IC-IMPACTS) as its Scientific Director and CEO.

One of the most cited in the field of concrete materials and structures, Dr. Banthia has worked tirelessly to understand the performance of concrete structures under various conditions of loading and environment, developed numerous advanced ultra-high performance concrete materials with fiber reinforcement, devised innovative methods of laboratory and field testing and developed novel sensors for structural health monitoring. Dr. Banthia holds 7 patents, has published over 400 refereed papers and edited 20 volumes. He serves on Editorial Boards of eight international journals and is the Editor-in-Chief of the J. of Cement and Concrete Composites—a journal with the highest Impact Factor in the field.

His awards include Wason Medal of American Concrete Institute, Solutions Through Research Award of the BC Innovation Council, Wolfson Merit Award of the Royal Society of the UK, Killam Research Prize from the Killam Foundation, Horst Leipholz Medal of the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Mufti Medal of Excellence of the International Society for Health Monitoring of Infrastructure (ISHMII) and the Leadership in Science and Technology Award of the Drishti Foundation. Recently, Dr. Banthia has been recognized by the Alumni UBC 2018 Achievement Awards selection committee as the distinguished recipient of the Global Citizenship Award. This award is given to a UBC alumnus/alumna in recognition of significant community or voluntary service which has gained international recognition and made a global difference. He is the fellow of the American Concrete Institute, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, Indian Concrete Institute, Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Canada.

In the context of IC-IMPACTS, Dr. Banthia believes that the most effective way of improving lives of global citizens is through nationally supported research collaboration in science and technology. Through his leadership, IC-IMPACTS has demonstrated that such a collaboration brings about innovations that transform lives. Supported by both Indian and Canadian Governments, the $60 million Center is involved in applied research with India in Water, Infrastructure and Public Health and is dedicated to bringing advanced technologies to communities in Canada and India. Its long-lasting impact is already been felt through its numerous demonstrations projects in Indian and Canadian communities. Dr. Banthia’s work in India was recently awarded the Global CSR Medal of Leadership and Excellence.

For more information about Dr. Banthia and his research please see the following:

• Awards
• Materials Engineering 
• SIERA (Sustainable InfrastructurE ReseArch)