Nature has developed elegant, efficient and sustainable biologically-based solutions to many challenges encountered in civil and geotechnical engineering. 

Over the past decade, the benefits of microorganisms for building and geological materials are being discovered and under extensive investigation. The benefits are mainly due to the microbially induced biomineralization, more specifically, bacterially induced CaCO³ precipitation, which has been regarded as an environmentally friendly material. This biogenic material is creatively used for improving the engineering properties of building and geological materials, including strength, stiffness, water-tightness, durability, sustainability, etc. Bacterially induced CaCO³ has been tested for surface protection, crack repair/self-repair, strength enhancement in cementitious materials, reinforcement of rock and soil, anti-seepage and plugging of structures in dams and soils, prevention and control of sand liquefaction, remediation of heavy metal contaminated soil, etc. 

Besides biogenic materials, many natural non-toxic microbial sources themselves can be used to modify the properties (viscosity, flow, setting, hydrophobicity, etc.) of building materials. Therefore, microbial biotechnology has broad prospects for engineering applications.

The aim of this conference is to bring together the leading experts in these fields from around the world to present the recent achievements, share the latest developments and address the challenges on the related issues of microbial biotechnology in construction materials and geotechnical engineering.