FIU civil engineering Ph.D. candidate pioneers ultra-high-performance concrete research, bridging innovation between FIU and Florida’s Department of Transportation.
Joseba Maruri | Staff Writer
Michael Odelola is a multi-award-winning international student from Nigeria and a Ph.D. candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Florida International University (FIU).
Odelola specializes in working with Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC), a material discussed in prior PantherNow articles. UHPC is a concrete solution with an internal arrangement of metal fibers. As per the most recent testing, UHPC is capable of withstanding 4-6 times more pressure than standard concrete, but the specifics of how it can be used to create safer, more durable foundations for bridges and other heavy structures are still under testing.
That matters substantially in Florida, where much of the state’s infrastructure is constantly exposed to saltwater, heat, humidity, and corrosion.
“Florida is a unique state,” says Odelola. “A lot of construction happens in harsh coastal environments. You can’t always rely on normal concrete in those places. It degrades faster. UHPC is designed to survive in situations where traditional concrete struggles.”
His research focuses on piles, long structural elements that are driven deep into the ground to carry loads from bridges, piers, and similar structures. When piles need to go deeper, engineers “splice,” or join, two pile segments together. If that splice is weak, the foundation can fail.
Odelola studies how UHPC can be used to make those splices stronger, faster to install, and more reliable over time, especially in Florida’s challenging coastal conditions.
To help develop this technology, he regularly travels between Miami and Tallahassee, where he leads experimental testing work at FDOT’s Marcus H. Ansley Structures Research Laboratory.
He travels there regularly to supervise testing on his UHPC pile splice systems and to coordinate with FDOT engineers. Back at FIU after a nearly 480-mile drive, he continues related work on corrosion and durability. To be candid, Odelola serves as a liaison or bridge (no pun intended) between FIU’s engineering research team and FDOT, the state agency.
When asked about the nature of this institutional relationship, Odelola said the following: “This kind of collaboration is what puts FIU on the map as an R1 research university.”
Odelola joined FIU in Spring 2023 and became part of a Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)–funded project evaluating UHPC for use in Florida’s transportation infrastructure.
“Coming here was a big change,” he said. “The culture is different, the systems are different, even the weather is different. But Miami feels alive. I love the city and the people.”
Since then, Odelola has shared his findings with the broader engineering community by presenting at major conferences, including the Florida Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers Annual Conference in 2024 and 2025, and the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) Congress in 2025.
Through FIU, he’s filed two patent applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patents cover two new ways to connect precast UHPC elements in the field, both of which are meant to let two UHPC members “lock” together quickly and safely, even in difficult site conditions.
Through these additions to the field, Odelola’s work has earned top recognition at FIU. He received both the Dissertation Evidence Acquisition (DEA) Award and the Dissertation Fellowship (DF), two of FIU’s most competitive doctoral awards for impactful research.
In 2025, he also received a Deep Foundation Award for his promise in geotechnical and foundation engineering. He was additionally selected as an FIU nominee for the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society at Yale University in 2025, which honors scholars who combine academic excellence with leadership, character, and a commitment to lifting others.
“That was a proud moment for me,” he said. “It means you are not only doing research, you are representing something bigger.”
For Odelola, the work is not just about Florida. He hopes what is being developed at FIU can help countries like Nigeria, where poor construction practices and weak oversight still cost lives.
“In many places, including back home, people are still losing their lives to structural failures,” he said. “If we can build safer foundations, we can save lives. For me, this is not just academic work. It’s public safety work.”
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