Two NMSU civil engineering Ph.D. students, Samriddhi Ghimire and Rasana Maharjan, placed second at the 2025 Hult Prize with Smartcrete, a concept that embeds sensors into lighter, eco-friendly concrete beams. The design aims to cut concrete's substantial carbon footprint (nearly 8% of global emissions) while enabling real-time stress monitoring, early failure prediction, and lower maintenance costs. Developed through the Mike Hunt Construction Sprints, Smartcrete will be further refined with support from the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship.
NMSU Ph.D. Team Wins Second at Hult Prize with Smartcrete — Sensor-Embedded Eco-Concrete
Two NMSU civil engineering Ph.D. students, Samriddhi Ghimire and Rasana Maharjan, placed second at the 2025 Hult Prize with Smartcrete, a concept that embeds sensors into lighter, eco-friendly concrete beams. The design aims to cut concrete's substantial carbon footprint (nearly 8% of global emissions) while enabling real-time stress monitoring, early failure prediction, and lower maintenance costs. Developed through the Mike Hunt Construction Sprints, Smartcrete will be further refined with support from the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship.
08:50 AM, 11/21/2025Technology
EL PASO, Texas — A civil engineering team from New Mexico State University captured second place at the 2025 Hult Prize Pitch Competition with an innovative concept called Smartcrete, demonstrating how engineering can advance more sustainable, resilient infrastructure.
The team—Ph.D. students Samriddhi Ghimire and Rasana Maharjan—developed Smartcrete as a startup concept that integrates sensing elements into lighter, eco-conscious concrete beams. Their design reduces unnecessary material, lowers embodied carbon, and enables continuous structural monitoring to predict failures and reduce maintenance costs.
Why it matters
NMSU notes that concrete production is responsible for nearly 8% of global carbon emissions. Despite its ubiquity, conventional concrete structures are largely "blind" to evolving stresses and damage. Smartcrete aims to change this by combining material efficiency with embedded sensors that track stress, detect anomalies, and support data-driven maintenance.
How Smartcrete works
The concept proposes a new class of lightweight, sustainable concrete beams that remove excess material and incorporate smart sensing elements. This approach targets three core benefits: reducing the carbon footprint of structural elements, providing real-time condition monitoring, and lowering lifetime maintenance costs through early fault detection.
"Samriddhi and Rasana exemplify the talent and innovation we aim to elevate through the Mike Hunt Construction Sprints,"
said Carlos Murguia, director of the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship.
The Smartcrete project was developed within the Mike Hunt Construction Sprints program, which supports civil engineering innovation on campus. Dana Catron, interim director and CEO of the Arrowhead Center, added,
"Supporting civil engineering innovation is a core objective of the Mike Hunt Construction Sprints. Smartcrete is a powerful example of how technical research can translate into safer, greener, more resilient infrastructure."
Competition and next steps
The Hult Prize brought together multidisciplinary student teams developing entrepreneurship-driven solutions aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Winning teams advance to national rounds; the event also highlights emerging innovators across fields, especially at the intersection of engineering and sustainability.
Ghimire and Maharjan will continue refining Smartcrete with mentorship and resources from the Hunt Center's entrepreneurial programming as they prepare for future development and potential commercialization.
For more information: Contact the Hunt Center for Entrepreneurship or the Arrowhead Center to learn about ongoing support and collaborations with student innovators.