Two civil engineering students receive top awards at Graduate Poster Showcase
April 1, 2026 - Kimberly Delker
Two students from the Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering received awards for their research at the recent Graduate Poster Showcase at UNM.
Master’s student Sneha Gupta and Ph.D. student Tayyab Zafar received first and second place, respectively, in the materials track of the competition.
Both Gupta and Zafar work in the Advanced Sustainable Construction (ASC) Lab, led by Assistant Professor Maryam Hojati. A total of five students from the ASC Lab participated in the poster showcase.
"The Advanced Sustainable Construction (ASC) Lab in the Department of Civil Engineering is dedicated to advancing innovative construction materials and technologies for the future of construction on Earth and beyond,” Hojati said. “The ASC Lab was proudly represented with outstanding poster presentations, and two of its students earned first and second place awards, respectively, recognizing the excellence and impact of their research."
Sneha Gupta (left) and Tayyab Zafar stand under the sign of the lab where they performed their award-winning research.
Gupta’s poster, titled CO₂ Mineralization of Recycled Concrete and Industrial Wastes for Carbon-Negative Cementitious Materials, won first place in the materials track. She is a graduate student who is enrolled in the 4+1 program in the department who will earn a master’s degree in structural engineering in December. Her plans are to continue with graduate studies in a Ph.D. program.
Zafar’s poster, titled Effect of Pumice Internal Curing on 3D Printed Engineered Cementitious Composites Exposed to Various Curing Regimes, tied for second place in the materials track. He began as a Ph.D. student in the summer of 2024 and would like to eventually enter academia, continuing teaching and research in the field of 3D concrete printing and structural design.
Although both students were surprised to have received honors at the poster competition, they both say that thanks to the innovative research being conducted in the ASC Lab, they are conducting highly relevant research in a field that is in demand, yet still evolving.
Capabilities in the lab (which opened in 2019 as the Dana C. Wood Dana C. Wood Materials and Structures Lab) include computer-aided design and 3D concrete printing.
Gupta and Zafar said they found the process of the participating in the poster competition to be educational and worthwhile, even if they had received no awards.
“It is a good platform to share research and receive feedback on your research,” Zafar said.
Hojati said that she is pleased that so many of her graduate students participated and will continue to promote this as a valuable opportunity.
Five students from Maryam Hojati’s Advanced Sustainable Construction Lab participated in the Graduate Poster Showcase.
“My hope is that next year, even more civil engineering students will participate in this excellent event, which provides valuable exposure and an opportunity for our researchers to present their work and compete at the university level,” she said.
The Graduate Poster Showcase was held March 12 and hosted by Graduate Studies. Around 100 students participated in the event, with posters divided into 13 different topical tracks and a separate judging panel for each track. The top two posters in each track received a cash prize. A full list of winners can be found here.
