Biography:

Dr. Ebenezer Fanijo is an Assistant Professor in the School of Building Construction at Georgia Tech. Dr Fanijo has led and contributed to multiple funded research projects and has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings. Dr. Fanijo has received several national and international awards for research excellence, including the prestigious NSBE Golden Torch Award. Dr. Fanijo is also a BBISS Fellow and a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.). Dr. Fanijo's multidisciplinary research spans cementitious and concrete composites, concrete durability, green concrete technologies using recycled and by-product materials, geopolymer concrete, 3D-printed cementitious systems, highway pavements, advanced sensing technologies, and non-destructive evaluation. He joined the School of Building Construction in the Spring of 2023.

Dr. Fanijo’s research centres around sustainable and smart-resilient buildings/civil infrastructure with a particular interest in decarbonizing infrastructure using novel low-carbon construction materials and alternative energy sources. Buildings contribute to more than one-third (39%) of the global energy-related CO2 emissions and 35% of global energy consumption, mainly from manufacturing, building materials and transportation. As such, advanced research on developing innovative construction materials is urgently required to address the carbon emissions from materials and construction processes of buildings' life cycle. His research approach includes examining the fresh properties and rheology, early-age cracking, microstructure evaluation, mechanical and durability performance, and life cycle assessment of building systems (particularly cementitious composites) made with these sustainable construction materials.

He has also conducted research across different disciplines, including cementitious and concrete composites; corrosion monitoring and mitigation; concrete durability; green concrete technology using recycled and by-product materials; 3D printing of cementitious materials; highway pavement; geopolymers; fibre-reinforced concrete; advanced sensing technologies and automation; and non-destructive structural monitoring and evaluation.

Dr. Fanijo received his B.S. in Building Construction with first-class honours from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. In 2019, He earned an M.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Idaho. Subsequently, he got his PhD in Civil Engineering (with a simultaneous Master’s degree – MEng in Material Science and Engineering) from Virginia Tech in 2022. He has worked on numerous funded research projects and published in various peer-reviewed journals and proceedings. Dr Fanijo has also received numerous national and international awards for his excellence in research, with his recent NSBE Golden Torch Award recognized as the graduate student of the year 2022.

At Georgia Tech, he is passionate about teaching construction materials and methods and their critical role in the design and construction of buildings. Dr Fanijo developed and currently teaching the Construction Materials and Methods Course so that Building Construction students can have in-depth knowledge of building materials and systems, their properties, and their intrinsic relationship to structural systems and environmental performance. He also develops and teaches courses on Green Construction Technology, Concrete Durability and Sustainable Construction Materials and Techniques.

Dr. Fanijo is a Professional Engineer (P.E.) and LEED Green Associate with more than five years of working experience in the construction sector.

Teaching Interest:

Dr. Fanijo’s teaching focuses on construction materials, building systems, and sustainable construction technologies at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr Fanijo teaches Construction Materials and Methods, Construction Mechanics, and Green Construction at the undergraduate level, and offers Sustainable Construction Materials and Technology at the graduate level.

Research Interest:

Dr. Fanijo’s research focuses on the material science and life-cycle assessment of sustainable construction materials and low-carbon cement alternatives. Dr Fanijo's group integrates advanced characterization technologies, computational modeling, and machine learning to evaluate material reactivity, durability, and performance, ultimately advancing low-carbon infrastructure materials across their full life cycle.

List of Recent Scholarly Work:

1.    T. O. Mohammed, D. Singh, & E. O Fanijo. (2025). Calcium carbide residue as a supplementary precursor in geopolymer binders . Frontiers in Materials. doi:10.3389/fmats.2025.1718575.

2.    E. O Fanijo, J. Liu, & T. O. Mohammed (2025). Transportation Infrastructure Health  Monitoring. IntechOpen. doi: 10.5772/intechopen.1012341

3.    Liu, J., Liu, F., Wang, Z., Yang, S., Fanijo, E. O., & Wang, L. (2025). Transitioning from Lab-Based to AI-Assisted Balanced Mix Design: Comprehensive Overview of Research, Development, and Future Perspectives. Transportation Research Record, 03611981251322465. https://doi.org/10.1177/03611981251322465

4.    T. Tran, R. Cook, O. Ipindola, E. O. Fanijo, A. Newman, P. E. Stutzman, and A.S. Brand (2025). Measuring Mineralized Carbon in Carbonate Minerals and Cementitious Materials by an Acid Digestion-Titration Method” Cement and Concrete Research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2025.107829

5.    E.O. Fanijo, J.G. Thomas, Y. Zhu, W. Cai, and A.S. Brand (2023) In situ quantitative topographic measurement and corrosion behavior of low carbon steel in chloride solutions," Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology. https://doi.org:10.1080/1478422X.2023.2242654

6.    E.O. Fanijo, J. T. Kolawole, A. J. Babafemi, & J. Liu (2023) A comprehensive review on the use of recycled concrete aggregate for pavement construction: properties, performance, and sustainability. Cleaner Materials, 100199. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clema.2023.100199

7.    E.O. Fanijo, J.G. Thomas, Y. Zhu, J. Esquivel Guerrero, N.C. Hosking, J. Li, and A.S. Brand (2023). "Effects of thermal history on the corrosion kinetics of rolled aluminum 6111 alloy," Materials Chemistry and Physics, 303, 127802. https://doi.org:10.1016/j.matchemphys.2023.127802

8.    E. O. Fanijo, J. G. Thomas, Y. Zhu, & A. S. Brand (2022). Surface Characterization Techniques: A Systematic Review of their Principles, Applications, and Perspectives in Corrosion Studies. Journal of The Electrochemical Society. https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ac9b9b

9.    E. O. Fanijo, J. G. Thomas, Y. Zhu, J. E. Guerrero, N. C. Hosking, W. Cai, F. Marc Michel & A. S. Brand (2022). Quantitative measurement of corrosion at the nanoscale by in situ spectral modulation interferometry. Materials Characterization, 111992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matchar.2022.111992

10.    E. O. Fanijo, M. S. Chowdhury, E. Kassem, & D. Mishra (2022). Evaluating Alkali-Silica Reactivity of Aggregates Using the New Miniature Concrete Prism Test and Other Standard Test Methods. Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, 34(8), 04022163. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0004293

11.    E.O. Fanijo and A.S. Brand, (2022). Anti-corrosion behaviors of corn-based polyols on low carbon steel rebar, Cleaner Materials. 100066. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clema.2022.100066.

12.    E.O. Fanijo, J.T. Kolawole, and A. Almakrab (2021). Alkali-silica reaction (ASR) in concrete structures: mechanisms, effects and evaluation test methods adopted in the United States. Case Studies in Construction Materials, e00563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2021.e00563

Degrees with Year of Award:

Ph.D.    Civil Engineering, Virginia Tech,  2022.
M.Eng  Material Science and Engineering, Virginia Tech, USA, 2022.
M.S.      Civil Engineering, University of Idaho, USA, 2019.
B.S.          Building Construction (first-class honors), Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, 2015