Associate Professor, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign – Nishant Garg is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 2018. He completed his postdoctoral research at Princeton University from 2016 to 2018 and earned his Ph.D. in Nanoscience from Aarhus University, Denmark, in 2015. At Illinois, his research group focuses on the chemistry of construction materials using advanced characterization techniques. He has pioneered novel methods that accelerate and automate testing of cement-based materials, reducing test durations from several days to a few minutes. His research efforts have been recognized by numerous awards, including the 2021 ‘Stephen Brunauer Award’ and 2025 ‘Early Career Award’ from the American Ceramic Society, and, most recently, the 2025 ‘Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research’ at Illinois.
