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Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-based Construction Materials

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Post-Doctoral Researchers

Find out more about associated researchers.

Dr Daniel Geddes 
Dan

Dan is a Research Associate working on Research into the development and chemistry of sustainable cement and concrete materials, as well as a number of other projects in the group. Dan completed his PhD on development of metakaolin–based geopolymers for the immobilisation of problematic radioactive waste in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Sheffield. 

Dan obtained his Masters in Chemistry from the University of Hull in 2016. Dan's research at Hull was based in the Surfactants and Colloids Group and the Paunov Research Group, with a specific focus on the use of physical and analytical chemistry to produce novel emulsions for 3D bioprinting applications. Since moving to Sheffield, Dan's research has focused on low carbon cements and developing these materials for use within the UK nuclear industry. 


Dr Bruno Fernandes
Picture of Bruno Fernandes

Dr Bruno Fernandes is a Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. He works on the ICEC-MCM project 2D with Professor Leon Black and Professor Susan Bernal. The project aims to engineer concretes based on sustainable resources (alternative cementitious materials and/or recycled concrete aggregates) with excellent long-term durability and potential for circularity.

Before joining the University of Leeds, Bruno completed his PhD at Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour (France, 2022), working with the high temperature behaviour of concrete made with recycled concrete aggregates. His work addressed a wide range of properties, from mechanical behaviour to post-heating durability. Bruno also holds a Master's degree in Structures and Geotechnics from Unicamp (Brazil, 2018) and a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from Unisinos (Brazil, 2016). Bruno's research interests and experience include concrete, durability, high temperature behaviour of materials and structures, alternative materials, repair and strengthening of structures.


Dr Irene Josa
Picture of Irene Josa Research Fellow at UCL

Dr Irene Josa is a Research Fellow at the Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering Department at UCL. She is working with Dr Aiduan Borrion on project 1D which relates to environmental and social circular life cycle of MCMs. 

Prior to joining UCL, Irene was a researcher and lecturer at Technical University of Catalonia (BarcelonaTECH), where she was involved in projects aiming at assessing environmental, social and economic impacts associated with civil engineering goods and services, such as environmental processes (i.e. wastewater treatment with bio-products recovery) or construction materials (i.e. mortars or 3D-printed concrete). Irene holds a BSc and MSc in Civil Engineering from BarcelonaTECH, a MSc in Structural Engineering from Tongji University, a MSc in Human Rights from the Open University of Catalonia and a PhD in Construction Engineering from BarcelonaTECH.Outside of university, she contributes to her field as a board member of the Catalan Association of Civil Engineers, as a member of several task groups of the International Federation for Structural Concrete (fib) and as a member of Engineering without Borders Catalonia. 

As of 1st February 2024, Irene has left this position and now works as a Lecturer at UCL's Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. 


Dr Angeliki Kourmouli
Picture of Angeliki Kourmouli

Dr Angeliki Kourmouli is a Senior Research Associate in Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University. Angeliki is working with Professor John Quinton, Professor Carly Stevens and Professor Elizabeth Graham from UCL on research project 1C, which focuses on understanding the physical, chemical and biological effects of MCMs on soil as well as the optimisation of cascading MCMs to the terrestrial biosphere for soil regeneration.

Angeliki is a biogeochemist holding an Environmental Science degree (4 year BSc, 2013) from the University of the Aegean where she also studied for her MSc. in Environmental and Ecological Engineering (2014). Angeliki obtained her PhD in Environmental Health and Risk Management from University of Birmingham in 2021. The main focus of her PhD was terrestrial biogeochemical responses of mature forests under elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide. Her previous research experience involved working as a Senior Research Technician investigating the belowground responses of a mature temperate woodland under elevated carbon dioxide at the BIFoR FACE facility on a 5 year NERC funded project led by the University of Birmingham


Dr Evangelia Manola 
A black and white image of her Evi Manola, a caucasian woman with dark hairA

Dr. Evangelia Manola is a Research Fellow in UCL Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering. Evi is working with Professor Liz Varga on research project 3B, which focuses on Eco-design of technical characterisation of mineral-based construction materials with a focus on transport infrastructure projects. 

She is a qualified Civil Engineer (MEng., 2012) from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki where she also studied for her MSc. in Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (2013). She was awarded her PhD at De Montfort University in 2019 which focused on Composite Pavement numerical modelling and distress prediction. Her previous research experience involved working as a KTP research associate investigating the behaviour of bituminous emulsions on a 2 year Innovate UK funded project in a collaboration between Liverpool John Moores University and Colas Ltd.

 


Dr Yiping Meng
Picture of Yiping Meng

Yiping is a Research Associate in the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering at Loughborough University. Yiping is working with Professor Sergio Cavalaro to develop guidelines for improved off-site manufacturing practice in the pre-cast industry, for components manufactured using different levels of automation.

Previously, she was a research assistant at the University of Cambridge working on robotic manufacturing for a timber school project. She received her BArch and March from Harbin Institute of Technology China in 2015 and 2018 and will get her PhD degree in architecture from the University of Sheffield in early 2023. Her research interest focused on optimal design for freeform structures manufactured by robotic automation construction. She has participated in two NSFC projects and one five-year project about smart city, data-driven sustainable urban design and energy efficiency. Besides, she worked as a graduate teaching assistant for four modules for undergraduates and graduates in architecture and urban design.


Dr Jacob Mhlanga 
jacob

Jacob Mhlanga is a Research Associate at Loughborough University. He is working with Professor Osmani Mohammed on the ICEC–MCM Project 3A: to develop a framework for circular economy business models for mineral-based construction materials (MCM).

Jacob is a Quantity Surveyor by profession. In addition to his Bachelor of Quantity Surveying degree, Jacob also holds a first-class MSc. in Construction Project Management from the National University of Science and Technology (Zimbabwe) and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the Midlands State University (Zimbabwe). He is passionate about exploring how Mineral-Based Construction materials are utilised within the construction industry, mainly through applying circular economy principles. His research interests include sustainable construction, environmental resilience and circular economy transitions. He recently submitted his Ph.D. in Construction Management at Nelson Mandela University (South Africa) and is due to graduate in December 2023. In his Ph.D., he focused on the relationship between sustainable construction and environmental resilience non-conflicting factors to develop a circular built environment transition framework for Southern Africa. Jacob has published peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and peer-reviewed several papers. His previous research experience includes participating in project development of the SA-Swiss grant-funded project entitled, “Re-engineering informal construction through circular practices and models” which aims at rethinking informal construction and looks at circular construction solutions, which involve the active participation of informal dwellers (in self-building activities) and create also an informal market of reused (repurposed) materials and building elements. The project is collaboratively executed by the investigators from University of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa), Nelson Mandela University (South Africa) and ETH Zurich (Switzerland).


Dr Metin Piskin 
Picture of Metin Piskin

Metin is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University College London, working on project 1E with Dr Alvaro Calzadilla. His work aims to evaluate the long-term economic impacts of circular economy interventions along the MCM supply chain and the indirect impacts throughout other parts of the economy.

Metin holds a PhD on Economics from Istanbul Technical University, which he obtained in 2018. During his PhD, he was a visiting scholar at the Regional Economics Application Laboratory of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on large-scale modelling of multi-regional economic systems, with special interest in modelling integration applied to transportation, climate change and spatial interaction. His work is based on a set of computable multi-regional general equilibrium and input-output models.    


Dr Boral Soumava
Soumava Boral

Boral Soumava is a Research Fellow working on project 2E. His work focuses on the development of a strategy for 100% circularity of demolished concrete, whether as a feedstock in the cement kiln, in blended cements, or as aggregate.

Boral did his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Mechanical Engineering and Master of Engineering (M.E.) in Production Engineering (major – Production Management) from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. After this, he went to complete his Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in a collaborative programme between IIT Kharagpur, India, and Curtin University, Australia. Recently, he has submitted his Ph.D. thesis. He also worked in the Public Works Department (Govt. of West Bengal) for one year as an Engineer – Quality Assurance. His research interests include Soft Computing Techniques, Machine Learning Techniques, Expert Systems, Decision Making under Uncertainty and with Missing Data, Optimization Techniques, Multi-Criteria Decision-Making, Sustainability, Reliability Engineering, Maintenance Engineering, and Production Management.


Dr Leonel Tchadjie
Picture of Leonel Tchadjie

Leonel is a research fellow at University College London. In his project supervised by Prof Julia Stegemann, Dr Rupert Myers and Tom Bide, he aims to develop a method for assessing the use potential of mineral wastes for applications in construction.

Leonel holds a BSc and MSc in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Yaoundé 1 (Cameroon), with a specialisation in the physico-chemistry of mineral materials. He recently submitted his PhD thesis in civil engineering science at the University of Johannesburg (South Africa). Leonel is passionate about finding practical approaches to convert aluminosilicate minerals and industrial wastes into sustainable building materials. His dual background in materials science and civil engineering enables him to establish multi-scale correlations between the microstructure of materials and their mechanical, structural, and durability properties. He has published several peer-reviewed journal and conference papers.

Leonel is a member of the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM), an organisation concerned with research in materials and structures. Before joining UCL, he worked as a research associate in the Green Concrete Lab at the University of the Free State.


Dr Linh Truong
Picture of Linh Truong Research Associate Loughborough Business School

Linh is a Research Associate at Loughborough Business School under the supervision of Prof Peter Kawalek and Prof Jacqueline Glass. Linh's project aims to identify the factors affecting specifier decision-making behaviour in the infrastructure sector and influence these through a value-driven market platform.

Linh has well-blended experiences in teaching, research and industry. She has worked as a Marketing Manager for a leading ICT Group in Vietnam and an International Education Group in Singapore, as well as providing consultant services for SMEs in Business Development, Growth Hacking and recently Data-driven/AI Marketing. She holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Birmingham. Her research interests are innovative technologies, data-driven business, global value chains, sustainable development and circular economy. Before joining the ICEC-MCM, Linh worked on Circular Economy projects (decision support systems, circular education roadmaps and sustainable food supply chains) at Aston University


Dr Longxiang Zhao 
A black and white image of Longxiang Zhao, an Asian man with short dark hair a

Dr Longxiang Zhao is currently working as a Research Associate in Sustainable Accounting & Finance at Loughborough University, conducting research with Dr Suzana Grubnic and Professor Andrew Vivian on the ICEC-MCM 3D project: enabling capital investment projects for a circular economy, thus, to support the transition to a Circular Economy for construction materials in infrastructure.

Longxiang is committed to strive for a better world for humans and nature. He has obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Sheffield in 2019. His research on biodiversity accounting and accountability has been published in book chapters and peer-reviewed journals.