Concrete Materials Engineering Chair
Concrete Materials Engineering Chair
The Concrete Engineering Chair or Ingénierie des Bétons (IdB) Chair is committed to reducing the environmental footprint of concrete construction.
Launched in 2014 at the initiative of the French cement industry, the Chair was created to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration between the industrial and academic sectors in civil engineering and building construction. For the past ten years, in close collaboration with the Fondation École Française du Béton, the Chair has supported the modernization and transformation of teaching and research resources in the field of concrete.
In 2025, the IdB Chair enters a new phase of development with the arrival of five major new partners: Spie batignolles, Écominéro, Chryso France, Université d’Orléans/LaMé and ESITC Paris.
For more information : HERE
Our Vision and Ambitions
- Support the development of innovative concretes that meet today’s ecological, energy, and digital challenges
- Strengthen the link between research and education to accelerate knowledge transfer to tomorrow’s construction professionals
Educational Projects
In a complex context of environmental, digital, and societal transitions, the educational initiatives led by the IdB Chair aim to raise students’ awareness of the value of performance-based, multi-criteria, and holistic approaches — and to support them in applying these concepts to real-world challenges.
One example is the Engineering Project, a hands-on learning experience based on project-based pedagogy, designed for M1 students. Since 2018, the IdB Chair has proposed each year a topic based on a real-life case study, always connected to current issues in the construction sector.
In 2024, ESTP students had the opportunity to work on industrial heritage, focusing on the buildings of the Noyant-d’Allier mine — a site originally designed by the renowned engineer Eugène Freyssinet (🎬👇).
You can also explore videos from previous years' projects (🎬👇).
Another flagship initiative is the ACV Digital Learning pathway, which trains students in multi-criteria decision-making methods, with a particular focus on life cycle assessment (LCA) applied across various scales — from individual elements to entire structures.
Innovation is also a key focus, as illustrated by the launch of the BETON 3D Digital Learning pathway, which introduces students to 3D concrete printing and the transformative potential of this technology for the future of construction.
On the same topic, in June 2024, the IdB Chair co-organized an international intensive education program: Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) – Print to Build: Explore 3D Concrete Innovation
Research Focus Areas
The IdB Chair aligns its research activities with the priorities of the Construction Research Institute, focusing on the development and evaluation of low-carbon solutions for cement-based materials, circular economy approaches, in particular the reuse of construction and demolition waste, and 3D concrete printing.
With the recent expansion of the Chair and the integration of new partners bringing complementary expertise, the scope of research has broadened. The IdB Chair now also explores the performance of sustainable solutions at the structure scale, as well as topics such as existing structure diagnostics and the mechanical behavior of material interfaces.
For more information, please contact:
📎 Céline FLORENCE | Head of IdB Chair
Mail: cflorence@estp.fr
All the videos
Engineering project
🎬 Rehabilitating & Transforming Industrial Heritage – Mines de Noyant (2023-24)
🎬 Innovation on your campus (2022-23)
🎬 Le Corbusier Project (2021-22)
🎬 Reinventing Le Havre (2019-2020)
Educational projects