Royal Engineers have trialled low-resource concrete mixes using crushed recycled brick as aggregate, salt water as mix water and on-site 3D printing to build structures in conflict and disaster zones where fresh water and conventional materials are scarce. The work focuses on rapidly deployable field production, aiming to print blast walls, shelters and foundations without fixed batching plants or potable water supplies. For civil and military engineers, the approach raises design questions around chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion, variable brick aggregate grading and verifying strength without standard laboratory testing.

The US Commerce Department plans up to $389 million in semiconductor and power technology funding, including $56 million for Sibelco to develop next‑generation ultra‑high‑purity quartz purification, a key bottleneck material for chip fabrication. Helion and Commonwealth Fusion Systems could receive $175 million and $85 million respectively for high‑voltage power semiconductors, RF plasma‑heating chips and radiation‑hardened electronics for fusion generators operating under extreme electrical and radiation loads, while Vertical Semiconductor may get $73 million for vertical gallium nitride devices for AI data centre racks. All awards are preliminary and tied to minority, non‑voting federal equity stakes.

A British-made calcined clay cement designed to cut the embodied carbon of concrete will be launched to the wider construction industry on Thursday 22 October. The supplementary cementitious material partially replaces Portland clinker in standard mixes, targeting substantial CO₂ reductions compared with CEM I while remaining compatible with existing batching plants and placement methods. Structural and geotechnical designers can use the material to lower whole-life carbon on foundations, retaining structures and slabs without major changes to mix design workflows or site practice.