Parham AghdasiFounder

United States - San Francisco Bay Area

I was born and raised in Iran. Growing up, I loved learning, but we did not have many financial resources, nor access to fancy private schools or teachers. So I knew early on that I had to work doubly hard to excel. After finishing high school, I started studying atomic physics at an Iranian university in 2006 before I was expelled for being a Baha'i (a religious minority systematically persecuted in Iran). To pursue higher education, my only option was to go to an underground university (the Baha'i Institute for Higher Education, or BIHE). I obtained my BS in Civil Engineering in 2011 from BIHE and was immediately accepted to the University of Texas at Arlington for my Master's. I left Iran at the age of 23 with only $6,000 in cash--just enough to pay half of my out-of-state tuition for the first semester, let alone living expenses and the rest of my tuition. But, by proving myself to my professors, and winning many different scholarships, fellowships, and research and instructor assistantships, I managed to finish my studies at UT Arlington, pave my way to a full-ride PhD program at UC Berkeley, and get my PhD (the first in my family) without going into debt.

I love concrete!! Concrete is the second most used substance in the world after water and to be the first by 2027. I have spent 10+ years of my life developing concrete composites for various projects from earthquake resistant moment-frame columns, ultra-high performance concrete for DoD, multi-functional façade systems for energy-efficient buildings in Singapore, to deep ultra-high speed train tunnels in Japan, to mention a few. As human beings, we have used concrete for thousands of years. Countries have used it to lift up their people from poverty, put roofs over the heads of billions, store and supply clean water, protect their people against natural disasters, erect educational, healthcare, and many more facilities. Today, concrete producers waste $100bn/yr on concrete raw materials alone because their recipes are not optimized. Concrete is also responsible for more than 8% of carbon emissions in the world. I aspire to play a role in making concrete more sustainable, durable, and cost-effective.