Dr. Mohamed Lachemi

Areas of Academic Interest
Engineered cementitious composites
Self-healing of concrete
Behaviour of structures & properties of concrete materials
Development & use of self-consolidating concrete
High performance concretes
Use of waste products in concrete
Sustainability & concrete construction
Rehabilitation & repair of concrete structures
Education
Year | University | Degree |
---|---|---|
1993 | Sherbrooke University | PhD |
1988 | Sherbrooke University | MASc |
1986 | University of Science and Technology of Oran, Algeria | BSc |
Spotlight
Mohamed Lachemi’s inspiration to pursue engineering as a career came in a single moment, when the ground shook violently one day in North Africa. Lachemi was a high school student in Algeria when a devastating earthquake struck his small town. The quake killed 4,000 people, and levelled many of the town’s buildings.
In the puzzling aftermath, Lachemi found his life’s quest: ”I had to know why some buildings were standing, and others were completely destroyed. I could see that engineering has the power to save lives.” Thus began Lachemi’s global journey as an undergraduate and graduate student, engineer, university faculty member, internationally-renowned researcher, dean and ultimately president of Ryerson University.
Researching and developing strong, durable and most importantly sustainable concrete has become his research focus. His success resulted in appointment as a Canada Research Chair, and though his position as university president occupies much of his time, he has continued his research, including supervision of graduate students.
A tragic earthquake began Lachemi’s career in engineering, but at Ryerson he has found a home to follow his passion: “Our university community shares a simple but powerful mission—to respond to society’s needs through education and research.”

“Ryerson’s focus on students is one of the factors that attracted me to this university.”
- Wason Medal for Materials Research, American Concrete Institute, 2018
- NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement Award, 2012
- Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE), 2011
- Canada Research Chair (Tier II), Government of Canada, 2002
- Siad, H., Lachemi, M., Şahmaran, M., Mesbah, H.A., Hossain, K.A. (2018) “Advanced Engineered Cementitious Composites with Combined Self-Sensing and Self-Healing Functionalities,” Constr. Build. Mater., 176, 313-322.
- Sherir, M.A.A., Hossain, K.M.A., Lachemi, M. (2017) “The Influence of MgO-Type Expansive Agent Incorporated in Self-Healing System of Engineered Cementitious Composites,” Constr. Build. Mater., 149, 164-185.
- Bhaskar, S., Hossain, K.M.A., Lachemi, M., Wolfaardt, G., Kroukamp, M.O. (2017) “Effect of Self-Healing on Strength and Durability of Zeolite-Immobilized Bacterial Cementitious Mortar Composites,” Cem. Concr. Compos., 82, 23-33.
- Siad, H., Lachemi, M., Şahmaran, M., Hossain, K.M.A. (2016) “Preconditioning Method for Accelerated Testing of Concrete Under Sulfate Attack,” ACI Mater. J., 113(4), 493-504.
- Yeşilmen, S., Al-Najjar, Y., Balav, M.H., Şahmaran, M., Yıldırım, G., Lachemi, M. (2015) “Nano-Modification to Improve the Ductility of Cementitious Composites,” Cem. Concr. Res., 76, 170-179.
- Member, Council, National Research Council of Canada, 2018 to present
- Member, Advisory Board, Journal of Hydrocarbons, Mines and Environmental Research, 2010 to present
- Member, Selection Committee for the CSCE Gzowski Medal, 2009-2013
- Associate Editor, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 2007-2017