News

Lab news & milestones.

Recent awards, research advances, student achievements, and other milestones from the SHI Lab.

New TxDOT Project on Performance-Based Pavement Aggregate Quality Requirements

Texas State University, in collaboration with The University of Texas at Austin, has received a new research project from the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), titled Update Pavement Aggregate Quality Requirement/Specification Based on Performance. The project has a total budget of $499,566, including $341,298 for Texas State University, and will run from 2026 to 2028. Dr. Xijun Shi serves as the project lead PI and Texas State PI, Dr. Feng Hong serves as Texas State Co-PI, and Dr. Jorge Prozzi serves as PI from UT Austin.

Namrata Chakma Receives P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship

Congratulations to SHI Lab M.S. student Namrata Chakma on receiving the 2026–2027 P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship. Namrata is a Civil Engineering master’s student at Texas State University. Learn more from the Texas State Graduate College.

Md Khaliqul Bari Graduates with Master in Engineering Degree

Congratulations to Md Khaliqul Bari on graduating with a Master in Engineering degree from Texas State University.

Beng Wei Chong Earns Ph.D. in Materials Science

Congratulations to Dr. Beng Wei Chong on graduating with a Ph.D. in Materials Science from Texas State University.

NSF CAREER Award

The SHI Lab receives a $611,453 NSF CAREER award to advance recyclable biopolymer composite materials and entrepreneurial education for construction in resource-limited environments. View the NSF award.

BioStabrix™ proof-of-concept support

Texas State University supports continued development of recyclable biopolymer construction materials through a BobCatalyst proof-of-concept grant.

NSF SBIR Phase I Award

Circle Concrete Tech was awarded an NSF SBIR Phase I project to advance sustainable concrete technology using engineered recycled steel fibers.