Dr. Kunal Kupwade-Patil is the Head of Material Science at ICON in Austin, Texas. He develops and designs materials for various 3D concrete printing applications and is involved in engineering new solutions and design methodologies for the next generation of ICON 3D-printed wall systems. Additionally, he is involved in developing new research and development initiatives related to new innovative material technologies for 3D printing.
Previously, Dr. Kupwade-Patil was a Research Scientist in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for almost seven years. Prior to MIT, he was also a Research Assistant Professor at Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana for three years. His research focuses on durability evaluations of concrete, alternative cementitious materials, and the development of nano-engineered cementitious materials. Dr. Kupwade-Patil has produced more than 70 publications including journal articles, conference presentations, and patents.
Dr. Kupwade-Patil received his Ph.D. from Louisiana Tech University in 2010, and his doctoral work examined the application of nanotechnology and applied electrokinetics for corrosion mitigation in reinforced concrete structures. He has been involved in collaborative research projects with the Corrosion Technology Laboratory at Kennedy Space Research Center, NASA, Stennis Space Center (SSC) NASA, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). He also served as the project manager for a large-scale, multi-disciplinary signature project between MIT and Kuwait. He recently finished a project on engineering retarders in oil-well cement with Saudi Aramco.