Reza Hedayat

Associate Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Dr. Reza Hedayat is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines. He received his PhD in 2013 from Purdue University. Dr. Hedayat is the recipient of the Department of Energy’s highly prestigious Early Career Award from the Basic Energy Sciences.

Dr. Hedayat’s teaching and research interests focus on geomaterials, construction materials, reuse of mine tailings, tunnels and underground construction, and non-destructive evaluation methods. He designs and conducts highly detailed and controlled experiments to research the fundamental challenges in understanding the behavior of materials and the structures made of them at different time-and length-scales.

Dr. Hedayat has published over 140 peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings.

Labs and Research Centers

• Geomechanics Laboratory – Hedayat Research Group
• Center for Underground Construction and Tunneling
• Center for Mining Sustainability

Education

• PhD Civil Engineering, Purdue University, 2013
• MS Civil Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, 2009
• BS Civil Engineering, Shiraz University, 2006

Research Areas

• Geomechanics and Geomaterials
• Construction Materials (cementitious materials and geopolymer concrete)
• Mines Tailings and their Reuse for Construction Applications
• Non-destructive Evaluation Methods
• Underground Construction and Tunneling

Featured Talk

Mine tailings are not waste- here is why

Research Demonstrations

Turning Mine Tailings into Construction Materials

Honors and Awards

• Best Paper Award at 59th US Rock Mechanics/Geomechanics Symposium, 2025

• G.W. Cook PhD Dissertation Award received by PhD advisee, Dr. Sana Zafar, American Rock Mechanics Association, 2024

• Colorado School of Mines Teaching Award, 2022
• Early Career Award from the Department of Energy- Basic Energy Sciences- Geoscience, 2018
• ASCE ExCEED (Excellence in Civil Engineering Education) Fellow, 2016
• Rocha Medal Runner-up Certificate Award, International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM), 2015
• N.G.W. Cook PhD Dissertation Award, American Rock Mechanics Association, 2014

Selected Publications

• Shirole, D., Hedayat, A. and Walton, G. (2025). Characteristics of tensile and shear damage evolution during primary and secondary relaxation of Stanstead granite. Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering. Link
• Imani, M., Walton, G., Moradian, O. and Hedayat, A. (2025). Temporal and Spatial Evolution of Non-Elastic Strain Accumulation in Stanstead Granite During Brittle Creep. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 58, 275–299. Link
• Zafar, S., Hedayat, A. and Moradian, O. (2024). Stress Dependency of Brittle Creep in Granite: Insights into Source Mechanisms and Parameters. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 57, 10349–10366. Link
• Shabani, F., Asadizadeh, M., Hedayat, A., Tunstall, L., Gorman, B.P., Vega Gonzalez, J.A., Vera Alvarado, J.W., Taboada Neira, M. (2024). Evaluation of Fracture Properties in Ceramics Made of Sulfidic Mine Tailings. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering. Link
• Clements, C., Tunstall, L., Sosa, H.G.B., Hedayat, A. (2024). Improvements in Hydrolytic Stability of Alkali-Activated Mine Tailings via Addition of Sodium Silicate Activator. Polymers 2024, 16(7), 957; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16070957. Link
• Asadizadeh, M., Hedayat, A., Tunstall, L., Vega Gonzalez, J.A, Vera Alvarado, J.W. and Taboada Neira, M. (2024). The impact of slag on the process of geopolymerization and the mechanical performance of mine-tailings-based alkali-activated lightweight aggregates. Construction and Building Materials, 395, 132275. Link
• Zhang, N., Hedayat, A., Figueroa, L., Steirer, X., Li, L. and Sosa, H.G.B. (2023). Physical, mechanical, cracking, and damage properties of mine tailings-based geopolymer: Experimental and numerical investigations. Journal of Building Engineering, 75, 107075. Link
• Asadizadeh, M., Clements, C., Hedayat, A., Tunstall, L., Vega Gonzalez, J.A, Vera Alvarado, J.W. and Taboada Neira, M. (2023). The effect of class F fly ash on the geopolymerization and compressive strength of lightweight aggregates made from alkali-activated mine tailings. Construction and Building Materials, 395, 132275. Link
• Perera-Mercado, Y., Zhang, N., Hedayat, A., Figueroa, L., Saucedo-Salazar, E., Clements, C., Sosa, H.G.B., Tupa, N., Morales, I.Y. and Canahua Loza, R.S. (2023). Production and Incorporation of Calcium-Hydrolyzed Nanoparticles in Alkali-Activated Mine Tailings. Nanomaterials, 13(12), Link
• Butt, A., Hedayat, A. and Moradian, O. (2023). Laboratory investigation of hydraulic fracturing in granitic rocks using active and passive seismic monitoring. Geophysical Journal International, 234 (3), 1752-1770. Link
• Li, H., Gheibi, A., Hedayat, A., Yin, J. and Deng, J. (2023). Experimental validation of a velocity discontinuity model for prediction of the seismic and static shear stiffness of rock joints. International Journal of Rock Mechanics and Mining Sciences, 165, 105360. Link
• Garg, P., Zafar, S., Hedayat, A., Moradian, O. and Griffiths, D.V. (2023). A novel methodology for characterizing fracture process zone evolution in Barre granite specimens under mode I loading. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, 123, 103727. Link

Additional Publications in Google Scholar