About Dr. Bundur
Zeynep B. Bundur is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at Özyeğin University and has served as Department Chair since March 2025. Her work sits at the intersection of materials science and civil engineering, with a focus on designing sustainable, adaptive building materials that respond to the urgent needs of the construction sector—particularly decarbonization, resource efficiency, and performance-driven material development.
Dr. Bundur earned her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 2013, under the supervision of Raissa D. Ferron. Her doctoral research investigated self-healing bio-mortar, exploring bio-enabled approaches to enhance durability and extend service life in cement-based materials. Today, she is the primary supervisor of the Construction Materials Laboratory and leads the SAM (Sustainable and Adaptive Materials) Research Group at ÖzÜ.
The SAM research group tracks key technological developments in building materials and addresses global challenges in the construction sector by developing innovative cement-based systems. The group’s vision includes bio-based additives, self-healing cementitious materials, and alternative production technologies that improve both environmental performance and functionality. Current research themes and projects include:
Sustainable cementitious materials & low-carbon binders
Blended cements/SCMs, alternative binders (incl. alkali-activated / geopolymer-type systems), and durability–performance optimization using industrial by-products.
CO₂ capture, mineralization, and carbonation in cement-based materials
Enforced/accelerated carbonation of cementitious phases (e.g., recycled paste), CO₂ uptake quantification, and turning carbonated products into usable SCMs (CO2Cycle direction).
Circular concrete and construction & demolition waste (CDW) valorization
Separation/beneficiation of recycled concrete fines/paste, quality variability in field waste, and process pathways toward high-value secondary raw materials.
Rheology and 3D printing of cementitious/earthen composites
Printability windows, pump–hose–nozzle extrusion behavior, buildability vs flowability trade-offs, interlayer bonding, and failure mode control.
Bio-engineered / bio-mediated construction materials
Bioengineered powders/fibers and microbial pathways (e.g., MICP-type concepts) for tuning rheology and/or strengthening—especially for challenging, clay-rich systems.
3D printable earthen materials and performance-driven earthen construction
Making locally sourced soils more predictable, structurally feasible, and durable—while addressing variability across regions and deposits.
Data-driven materials science & digitalization in construction
ML/AI pipelines for composition–process–property links (especially small/heterogeneous datasets), physics-informed thinking, and “digital concrete production” style workflows.