"Playing with materials by changing the way they behave is a fascinating game –  constant search for order in chaos."

Sandra Lucas is an associate professor in autonomous manufacturing of construction materials. in the research group Concrete Structures at the TU/e Department of the Built Environment (unit Structural Design). Sandra’s research goal is to understand how machine learning and data science accelerate the discovery and development of new construction materials that are functionally advanced and environmentally sustainable. This involves synthesising materials with embedded functionalities that adapt to environmental conditions or mitigate impacts. She is the project leader of two NWO projects to develop smart and sustainable 3D-printed concrete. Prior to this position, she was a senior lecturer in construction materials and sustainability at the University of Greenwich. She was the PI for several projects within academia and in collaboration with industry through the Innovate UK funding agency.

Sandra Lucas obtained a BEng in ceramic and glass engineering, an MSc in environmental management and materials and, in 2011, a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Aveiro (Portugal). She then became a Marie Curie Postdoctoral researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute UMSICHT (Oberhausen, Germany) for the SHeMat project. As part of this project, she was a visiting researcher at EPSI ParisTech (Paris, France) and Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands). In 2014, she joined the University of Greenwich (London, UK) as a senior lecturer in construction materials and sustainability. In 2018, Sandra Lucas joined the research group Concrete Structures at the Department of the Built Environment of Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e, the Netherlands) as an assistant professor in 3D concrete printing. In May 2024, she became an associate professor in autonomous manufacturing of construction materials.