Posts published by: Cartwright
Meet the team: Dr Dali Bondar
At Material Evolution, our mission is to transform the construction industry with high-performance sustainable cement. Driving this innovation forward is Dr. Dali Bondar, a concrete specialist and technical lead, whose career spans over 30 years in civil engineering, material science, and cement and concrete technology.
In the nearly 3 years since Dali joined Material Evolution, she has been instrumental in the R&D process for the company’s flagship product, MevoCem. Dali is the driving force in delivering the company’s upcoming low-carbon projects derived from various waste materials and industrial byproducts.
Hear directly from Dali below.
From structural engineering to sustainable innovation
My passion for engineering started with a BA in civil engineering and an MA in structural engineering in 1992. After this, I worked in dam construction for over ten years, looking at flood prevention, clean energy and optimising concrete performance. I was a member of a committee to inspect dams and concrete hydraulic structures before delivery.
Aiming to design concrete with lower heat of hydration and thermal cracks to be more durable and reduce maintenance costs, I later embarked on a PhD at Sheffield University on non-clinker binders from pozzolanic materials. This led to a groundbreaking patent in 2009 and eight refereed journals articles.
Before joining Material Evolution (Mevo), I enjoyed working with various universities and industry bodies on different joint research projects, including Universities of Coventry, Queens University of Belfast, Ulster University, the UK Quality Ash Association, Cemex, Creagh Concrete, MACRETE and many more. The goal of these projects was to develop sustainable concretes derived from industrial by-products and waste materials, assessing their properties with regard to durability.
Shaping the future of cement innovation at Mevo
As technical lead at Mevo, I’m in the unique position of being able to leverage my specific expertise to guide and inspire a team of scientists in advancing the cement industry towards greater sustainability. My role blends technical expertise, leadership over the wider team, and strategic thinking to refine MevoCem, our revolutionary low carbon, sustainable cement.
The most fulfilling part of my job is witnessing my impact on people and the planet. Whether that be building something meaningful from reusing and recycling waste materials or developing the team alongside me. It brings me great joy to see growth and learning in my colleagues as a result of my guidance.
My day-to-day responsibilities include:
- Actively participating in morning stand-ups with the lab team to coordinate experiments and material testing, contributing to progress reviews and collaborative problem-solving
- Reviewing and analysing test results and data from the previous day and providing feedback, instructions and mentoring our scientists
- Ensuring industry compliance (with EN197, Flex350) to guarantee MevoCem’s strength and durability
- Resolving production issues, participating in discussions and collaborating with teams on feature design and feasibility
Overcoming challenges in the R&D process
I can’t imagine R&D without its challenges, particularly within a start-up!
The main challenges that we see are around cost – the testing equipment often requires significant investment, and this can be hard for a start-up with a limited budget.
When launching a new product, there is also a lot of uncertainty and risk related to whether the end-product will meet customer requirements, so we’re always looking to work closely with our clients to test and tweak formulas, ensuring the result works in their specific application.
Another challenge is around whether the product is ‘manufacturable’, as I like to call it. How practical is the product when it comes to scaling without losing the quality? And there are always time constraints, so how quickly can we launch the product?
The waste industry holds vast knowledge and research on materials and how they can be repurposed and improved. By partnering with us through a clear strategy, collaboration, and knowledge sharing, we can overcome challenges and accelerate the development of higher-quality, sustainable solutions.
Paving the way for women and girls in STEM
The main takeaway from my experience as a woman in a traditional, male-dominated industry has been that the capabilities of women and girls can sometimes be underestimated.
I use this as motivation to let my results, innovation and professionalism speak louder than any assumptions. In doing so, I’ve learnt to be bold and always have confidence in my work.
It also helps to have a very optimistic mindset, and I always apply the belief that anything is possible to my work. I often find myself doing what others tend to avoid, for example, using certain materials that are particularly difficult to process. Because of this I have constantly improved systems, processes and procedures, meaning I’ve found innovative methods of making useful products out of different wastes.
Long-term vision for a circular economy
Looking to the future, it is crucial that we prioritise the development of new technology and explore new materials to improve the construction industry’s circular economy approach.
There is currently a high variation and inconsistent quality in different waste materials. If we can standardise this, identify the best components to use for green cement production, and use this to better train our AI to predict how new materials will be blended, then I believe we can become truly circular within the cement and concrete industry soon.
Connect with Dali Bondar on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dali-bondar-0793b93a/