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Research

State-of-the-art Advanced Infrastructure Materials Lab

The Advanced Infrastructure Materials Lab focuses on producing, processing, imaging, analysing and testing infrastructure materials. The aim is to provide advanced techniques that are not readily available to infrastructure materials researchers in the UK.

Find out more about our new Advanced Infrastructure Materials lab

Current Research Themes

Low-carbon sustainable infrastructure:
New cements, 3D printed metals, industrial ecology

Long-term durability and performance:
Concrete durability, fracture mechanics, service-life prediction

Functional and improved materials:
New types of permeable pavement, durable super-hydrophobic surfaces

Circular economy:
Novel thermal insulation materials, new biomaterials, ceramic processing, plastics in the oceans

Postgraduate Research

The Materials section provides a highly stimulating environment for research. If you are interested in applying for a PhD, contact the academic in the list below who works in your area of interest. Specific opportunities are advertised on the Opportunities page.

Materials Academic and Teaching Staff A-Z

Structures Academics A-Z
Photo	Details
	Craig Buchanan Senior Lecturer in Construction, PhD Professional Institutions Liaison Officer 3D printing, metals, Material testing, Structural testing, Finite element modelling.
	Nick Buenfeld Professor of Concrete Structures,PhD, DIC, FICE, FIStructE, FREng Concrete structures; Deterioration mechanisms; Design for durability; Condition assessment and monitoring; Life prediction of new and existing concrete structures.
	Chris Cheeseman Professor of Materials Resources Engineering, PhD, MCIWM Head of Materials Section Waste management; Beneficial reuse of wastes; Low-carbon materials; Waste encapsulation technologies.
	Livia Cupertino Malheiros Lecturer, PhD Hydrogen embrittlement; Materials science; Metallurgy; Corrosion; Environmentally assisted fracture; Engineering alloys; Fracture mechanics
	Rupert Myers Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Materials Engineering, PhD Industrial ecology; Circular economy; Sustainable cities; Beneficial use of wastes/by-products; Cement, minerals, and aquatic chemistry/thermodynamics; Open science.
	Hong Wong Professor of Concrete Materials, PhD, DIC Director of MSc in Advanced Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure Undergraduate Year 2 Coordinator Cement, concrete, microstructure, petrography, porous media, mass transport properties, durability, sustainability, low-carbon materials.
	Chao Wu Reader in Civil Engineering Materials, PhD Polymer and polymer based composites, Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites and structures, Fatigue and fracture mechanics, Engineered cementitious composites (ECC), Structural retrofitting, Timber
	Marcus Yio Research Fellow, PhD Laboratory Manager for the new Centre for Infrastructure Materials (CIM) Cementitious materials; Concrete durability; Microstructure; Microscopy; Image analysis Email Marcus
Materials Academics A-Z

Materials Research Staff A-Z

Photo	Details
	Anusha Basavaraj Research Associate, PhD Life cycle and Sustainability Assessment of Concrete Systems/ Working in the EPSRC sponsored project (EUREKA: Engineered UK Clays for the Production of Low Carbon Cement) Email Anusha
	Hamed Dabiri Research Associate, PhD Structural engineering; High strength permeable concrete pavements; Experimental investigation: Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis; Machine learning Email Hamed
	Sam Draper Research Assistant Carbon sequestration in the built environment Email Sam
	Jean Noel Djobo Yankwa Research Associate in Low-Carbon Construction, PhD Development of methods for processing abundant natural resources and industrial by-products (clay, volcanic rock, lateritic soil, rice husk, etc.) for synthesising low-carbon building materials with tailored properties; Development of technologies out of these materials, for application for insulating or natural cooling of buildings, for energy storage, and for reducing the cost of building infrastructure in low-income countries. Email Noel
	Jianhang Feng Research Assistant Development of zero-emission cement based on electric arc furnace slag. Email Jianhang
	Hafiz Muhammad Adeel Hassan Research Associate, PhD The thermal performance of resilient permeable concrete pavements. Email Hafiz
	Caitlin Howe Research Assistant Manufacture of carbon negative construction products through mineral sequestration of CO2 Email Caitlin
	Alalea Kia Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, PhD Permeable concrete; Concrete pavement design; Durability of cement-based materials; Pore structure; Cementitious materials Email Alalea
	Barnaby Shanks Research Assistant Manufacture of carbon negative construction products through mineral sequestration of CO2 Email Barney
	Adam Mason Research Assistant Characterising global material cycles for natural and anthropogenic wellbeing Email Adam

Materials Research Students A-Z

Systems Academics A-Z
Photo	Details
	Tsz Chun (Jack) Chan Started Feb 2022 Machine learning techniques in concrete microstructure and durability Supervised by: Wong, H.S.; Yio, M. Email Jack
	Kaine Chinwah Started Dec 2019 Novel oil sorption materials produced from waste feathers Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R. Email Kaine
	Theo Clayton Started Oct 2020 Advanced fracture mechanics modelling to understand earth-environment interactions Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E. Email Theo
	Guozhen Ding Started Sep 2023 Polymer composites for hydrogen storage Supervised by: Wu, C. Email Guozhen
	Tiejun Ding Started Feb 2020 Development of circular concrete through indirect carbonation of waste concrete Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R.; Wong, H.S. Email Tiejin
	Sam Draper Started Oct 2017 Microstructure and durability of concrete prepared using new multi-component cements Supervised by: Wong, H.S.; Cheeseman, C.R.; Buenfeld, N.R.; Email Sam
	Meng Gao Started Nov 2020 System-performance based design of durable low-carbon concrete Supervised by: Myers, RJ.; Wong, H.S. Email Meng
	Xiangdong Geng Started Oct 2022 Durability prediction of fiber reinforced polymer composite using machine learning Supervised by: Wu, C. Email Xiangdong
	Maria Georgiades Started Nov 2020 Environmental sustainability assessment to guide the development of cements produced from bauxite residue and other high-volume industrial by-products Supervised by: Myers, RJ., Cheeseman, C.R Email Maria
	Theo Glashier Started Mar 2021 Short and long-term structural behaviour of metal 3D printed structures Supervised by: Buchanan, C. Email Theo
	Mehrdad Isfandbod Started Oct 2019 Modelling and characterization of hydrogen embrittlement of austenitic steels Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E. Email Mehrdad
	Evzen Korec Started Sep 2020 Electro-chemo-mechanical models for predicting stress corrosion cracking Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E. Email Evzen
	Alexander Kumi-Larbi Started July 2018 The use of waste plastic composites as an alternative low-cost construction material Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R.; Wilson, D.C. Email Alexander
	Yu Luan Started Mar 2022 Carbonation-induced corrosion in low CO2 emission concrete Supervised by: Wong, H.S.; Yio, M.; Myers, RJ. Email Yu
	John Obuobi Ofosu-Appeah Started Apr 2021 Engineered mycelium products Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R. Email John
	Pei Boon Ong Started Oct 2022 Low carbon cements from magnesium silicates Supervised by: Wong, H.S.; Cheeseman, C.R. Email Pei
	Sangchu Quan Started Oct 2022 Experimental insight into the mechanisms underlying hydrogen embrittlement in Ni-based materials Supervised by: Cupertino Malheiros, L.; Wu, C. Email Sangchu
	Leonel Quinteros Palominos Started Jan 2021 Carbon nanotube-based smart skins for structural health monitoring applications Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E. Email Leonel
	Rony Reategui Started Nov 2023 Sustainable structural elements through additive manufacturing Supervised by: Buchanan, C. Email Rony
	Qibah Reduan Started Aug 2023 Novel 3D printing for developing sustainable urban infrastructure Supervised by: Kia, A.; Buchanan, C. Email Qibah
	Barnaby Shanks Started Oct 2018 Investigating new low-carbon cements based on MgO/silica components of olivine Supervised by: Cheeseman, C.R.; Wong, H.S. Email Barney
	Yang Tu Started Oct 2020 Multiphysics modelling of battery degradation Supervised by: Martinez-Paneda, E.; Wu, B. Email Yang
	Terry Ugama Started Apr 2019 New low carbon cement for sustainable infrastructure development manufactured from olivine Supervised by: Wong, H.S.; Cheeseman, C.R. Email Terry
	Runzi Wang Started Apr 2020 Chemomechanical fracture Supervised by: Wu, B.; Martínez-Pañeda, E. Email Runzi
	Amy Wilson Started Oct 2018 Reducing the impact of nanoparticle emissions during concrete production and recycling Supervised by: Stettler, MEJ.; Wong, H.S.; Fowler, G.D.; Cheeseman, C.R. Email Amy
	Haoming Wu Started Sep 2023 Development of low-carbon cement and concrete materials from UK clays Supervised by: Wong, H.S. Email Haoming
	Alperen Yayla Started Oct 2022 ElementTracker: Analysing resource implications of socioeconomic development through a digital twin of the physical economy Supervised by: Myers, RJ. Email Alpren
	Minggen Zhang Started Sep 2022 Understanding the chemistry of alkali ferro(alumino)silicate gel Supervised by: Myers, RJ.; Cheeseman, C.R. Email Minggen
	Yixiu Zhuge Started Jan 2022 Concrete carbonation chemistry and product development under forced carbonation conditions Supervised by: Myers, RJ.; Wong, H.S. Email Yixiu
Materials Research Students A-Z

Technical and Administrative Staff (A-Z)

Systems Academics A-Z
Photo	Details
	Jonathan Turner Administrator, Materials Room 243, +44 (0)207 594 5869
	Andrew Morris Laboratory Technician, Structures Room 236, +44 (0)207 594 5954, Email Andrew
Materials Technical and Administrative Staff

Materials 2023

Materials 2023

2023

Name	Title and supervisor
Liew, Jia Xiang	Non-destructive monitoring of moisture at the steel-concrete interface with embedded RFID MEMS sensors Supervised by: Buenfeld, N.; Wong, H.S.
Zheng, Shiying	Cement-based materials with hydrophobic micro-textured surface Supervised by: Wong, H.S.

2022

Name	Title and supervisor
Chen, Xi	Enhancing the spacer-concrete interface for durable structures Supervised by: Wong, H.S.; Buenfeld, N.
Zhang, Kai	Assessing long-term carbonation resistance of blended concretes from short-term natural exposure Supervised by: Wong, H.S.; Buenfeld, N.

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Contact us

Materials Section
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
South Kensington Campus
Imperial College London
London SW7 2AZ - UK

Research enquiries
Professor Chris Cheeseman
c.cheeseman@imperial.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7594 5971

Laboratory enquiries
Dr Marcus Yio
marcus.yio11@imperial.ac.uk
+44 (0)20 7594 3495

MSc enquiries
Postgraduate Taught Office
cvpgo@imperial.ac.uk
+44 (0)207 594 5932
+44 (0)207 594 5929