Title: From Ancient Materials to the Tallest Concrete Buildings in Mexico: An Approach to Sustainability, Resilience, and Durability

Bio:

Esteban Astudillo de la Vega graduated from the Escuela Superior de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (ESIA – IPN) Mexico in 1993. He obtained a Master’s Degree from the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (ENSC) France in 1998 and a PhD from the École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (ENSC) and the Université Paris 6 France in 2002. His PhD thesis on the biaxial behavior of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) won third prize in the National Competition for Young Researchers “René Houpert 2001” in France.

He has worked as a Structural Engineer from 1994 to 1997 and from 2002 to the present, designing concrete building structures, among which the “University Tower” a 205 metre-tall above street level with basements 45 m deepin the Historic Mexico City Downtown. The T.OP Tower in Monterrey NL, a 305 meter-tall concrete building, currently the tallest building in Latin America. Recently, in collaboration with Colaco Engineers Inc., he worked on the structural project of the RISE Tower, a concrete building over 400 metre-tall in Monterrey NL, Mexico, currently in construction.

His professional practice has been characterized by the implementation and optimization of innovative structural systems and solutions with architectural quality through the use of High Performance Concretes. This approach of innovation and respect for architectural intention has allowed him to collaborate on projects throughout the country. During the COVID pandemic, he collaborated as a structural engineer with Carlos Barba (Atelier AR+TE Architecture) in the development of a concrete with luminescent aggregates called LITHO LUX. This development was awarded in 2020 at Paris Design Week, and later in 2021 at Mexico Design Week. He has been a speaker in Mexico, the United States, France, and Puerto Rico.

In collaboration with MSc Arturo Gaytán, he obtained First Place in the 2024 ACI Awards for Excellence in the Construction of Low-Rise Concrete Structures. He received the 2024 Best Engineering Practice Award from the Mexican Society of Structural Engineering (SMIE).

He was President of the Mexican Society of Structural Engineering (SMIE) in 2019-2020. He is a member of the Subcommittee reviewing the Complementary Technical Standard for design and construction for Mexico City. He is part of the Board of Directors of the ACI Mexico South Central Section (2023-2025). Member of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the French Civil Engineering Association (AFGC).