Jose Norambuena-Contreras

Dr. Jose Norambuena-Contreras is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Civil Engineering at Swansea University, UK, and a member of the Materials and Manufacturing Research Institute. His research focuses on self-healing bituminous materials, integrating Materials Science, Civil Engineering, and Chemical Engineering disciplines. Previously, he held roles as Assistant and Associate Professor at the University of Bio-Bio (Chile), founding the LabMAT Research Group. He has held research positions at institutions like EMPA (Switzerland), the University of Nottingham (UK), and MIT (USA).

His teaching interests emphasize leadership and management in engineering education, fostering inclusive environments for future engineers. He has taught courses on Materials Technology and Civil Engineering Materials in Chile.

Research Interests: Self-healing asphalt materials, sustainable road infrastructure, waste valorisation, and biobased encapsulated rejuvenators. His work bridges material innovation and environmental sustainability, emphasizing circular economy principles.

Scientific Awards: Awarded the prestigious 2024 RILEM Robert L’Hermite Medal for exceptional contributions to construction materials under age 40. This honor recognizes his advancements in self-healing bituminous materials.

Grants & Projects: Principal Investigator/co-investigator in multiple grants, including FONDECYT (Chile) and Chile-Switzerland collaborations. Projects focus on waste-derived materials, lignin utilization, and asphalt rejuvenation technologies.

Professional Roles: Associate Editor of Materials and Structures, RILEM Latin America Convener, and Board Member of APSE. Founded spin-off company PavHeal Solutions (Chile) to commercialize self-healing asphalt technologies.