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Construction Materials Group

The technical network covering the application, use and reuse of all construction materials and systems

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  • Overview

The Construction Materials Group is a multidisciplinary group providing a forum for the exchange of information, knowledge and state-of-the-art industrial practice on all aspects of construction materials including iron and steel, polymers, heavy clay, cement and concrete, timber and wood products.
 

Latest construction materials news & resources

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27 January 2023

3D printing radio antennas

The University of Sheffield has 3D-printed radio antennas that could bring 5G and 6G to remote communities.

News
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24 January 2023

Ancient Roman concrete found to have self-healing capability

Ancient Roman concrete structures have survived for two millennia; self-healing has been cited as the reason for this super-durability.

News
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16 January 2023

Heidelberg Materials places first sustainability-linked bond

Heidelberg Materials has successfully placed its first sustainability-linked bond with an issue volume of €750mln and a term until 2032.

News
See more resources

 

Meet the Construction Materials Leadership Team

Dr Flavie Lowres FIMMM

Dr Flavie Lowres FIMMM

CMG Chair

Dr Morwenna Spear FIMMM

Dr Morwenna Spear FIMMM

Chair - IOM3 Wood Technology Group

Dr Graham Ormondroyd FIMMM

Dr Graham Ormondroyd FIMMM

IOM3 Strategic Advisor

Dr Deborah Pullen MBE FIMMM

Dr Deborah Pullen MBE FIMMM

Keith Aldis

Keith Aldis

Marion Ingle

Marion Ingle

Dr Su Varma FIMMM

Dr Su Varma FIMMM

Dr Flavie Lowres FIMMM

Dr Flavie Lowres FIMMM

CMG Chair

Flavie Lowres has a PhD in Materials and Metallurgy Science and Engineering from the University of Birmingham. Flavie chairs the Construction Materials Group and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Flavie spent 18 years at BRE where she was an associate director and specialised in materials sustainability related to LCA, circular economy, health and wellbeing and biophilia. Flavie is now working for Green Thinking Ltd and her first mission is to support the FIS in driving their sustainability strategy.

Dr Morwenna Spear FIMMM

Dr Morwenna Spear FIMMM

Chair - IOM3 Wood Technology Group

Dr Morwenna Spear has a PhD in Natural Fibre Composite Materials. Her research interests include the physical, mechanical and thermal properties of wood and has applied a wide range of techniques to understand and develop wood modification technologies. She also has experience of scaling-up new technologies for industry, and value-adding for timber. Morwenna also has a strong interest in the use of timber as a renewable and sustainable construction material, considering availability, embodied and sequestered carbon, and the route to net-zero for the industry. She has a keen interest in the timber industry in Wales and the UK, and has conducted market studies on the forest products sector, the use of timber in construction and the bio-based composites sector.

Dr Spear has supervised a number of MSc and PhD students in topics relating to timber and bio-based materials. She is involved in the Places of Climate Change research group and Plastics Research Centre Wales within Bangor University. She has written many book chapters on topics including: natural materials, wood based composites, timber properties and recycling. Morwenna is Vice-Chair of the IOM3 Wood Technology Group.

Dr Graham Ormondroyd FIMMM

Dr Graham Ormondroyd FIMMM

IOM3 Strategic Advisor

Graham acts as the strategic advisor for the IOM3 Construction Materials Group and represents their interests in the Technology Communities Board.

Dr Ormondroyd completed his PhD (Wood Science) at Bangor University, UK and has been the Head of Materials Research at the BioComposites Centre for 18 years and Reader in Biobased materials since February 2020. In that time has written many proposals, papers and undertaken commercial works in all aspects of biomaterials science. Dr Ormondroyd has over 100 publications including peer reviewed papers, conference proceedings, book chapters and edited books, he continues to publish regularly. Dr Ormondroyd is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining, a member of the International Research Group on Wood Protection and Chair of the Wood Technology Society. 

Dr Deborah Pullen MBE FIMMM

Dr Deborah Pullen MBE FIMMM

Deborah is an experienced leader and champion across the private, public and charitable sectors with particular experience in the construction, defence, aerospace and engineering sectors.

She has over 25 years’ experience in leading complex research programmes, research teams and R&D businesses focused on advanced materials, particularly polymer composites as both a qualified engineer and scientist.

She set up and led the National Composites Networks and then the Built Environment KTN and was awarded an MBE in the 2015 Queen’s New Year’s Honours for her achievements in Innovation and Knowledge Transfer

She is a trustee and technical advisor to a number of educational charities and also supports the development and mentoring of young professionals. 

Keith Aldis

Keith Aldis

Keith Aldis is the current Chief Executive of the Brick Development Association (BDA). Keith has held many prestigious positions, including setting up and running the sector’s non-statutory training organisation, JTL.  JTL went on to become the largest independent agency for the delivery of modern apprenticeships in the UK.

Following his appointment in 1997 as the Director of Training and Education at the then Building Employer's Confederation, he moved into the public sector as Customer Relationship Director and Operations Director for the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), the successor body to the EITB.  

Keith's philosophy has always been that that sound governance, excellent business professionalism and total commitment to people development is the key to success, for any business. 

Marion Ingle

Marion Ingle

I have been a member of IOM3 since the Plastics and Rubber Institute merged with the Institute of Materials.  I have worked in polymers for over 30 years in various sectors including: product development; manufacturing; general consultancy; ad education.  I currently work at Sandberg LLP where most of my work involves investigating failures in polymer materials and products used in construction. Such failures, which are often foreseeable and avoidable, can result in large volumes of materials ending up in landfill as well as the huge costs associated with replacement or remedial works. I am particularly interested in supporting activities to disseminate technical information and share experience within the construction industry relating to polymers.

Dr Su Varma FIMMM

Dr Su Varma FIMMM

Dr Su Varma CChem FRSC FIMMM has a PhD in Chemistry and has over 30 years of experience in leading industrial materials research especially in relation to advanced glass products such as fire protection glazing. More recently he was primarily responsible for the development of an in-house R&D Incubator at Pilkington (NSG Group) with the remit and vision to collaborate extensively with start-ups, established industries and universities globally to access new materials and technologies for the development of potentially new and novel glazing products. This has involved significant interactions with other materials manufacturers used in construction.

He is currently the Academic Director, R&D Incubator focussing on and increasing NSG’s Global partnerships with Academic Institutions, Research Technology Organizations, and funding bodies. He is particularly keen on cross sector collaboration and innovation and sits on several large university research advisory boards.

Su is a Chartered Chemist, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Fellow of IOM3. 

 

 

Join the IOM3 construction materials community (logged in members only) and receive updates about the latest relevant news, technical content and events. 

 

Group Chair

Dr Flavie Lowres FIMMM

Dr Flavie Lowres FIMMM

CMG Chair

Flavie Lowres has a PhD in Materials and Metallurgy Science and Engineering from the University of Birmingham. Flavie chairs the Construction Materials Group and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Flavie spent 18 years at BRE where she was an associate director and specialised in materials sustainability related to LCA, circular economy, health and wellbeing and biophilia. Flavie is now working for Green Thinking Ltd and her first mission is to support the FIS in driving their sustainability strategy.

 

IOM3 Investigates... Challenges for construction

This podcast provides an insight to the challenges facing the construction industry hosted by the Chair of the IOM3 Construction Materials Group.

The construction industry and the materials it uses faces huge challenges in the next few years, not only to support the UK Government Net Zero Strategy in the short, but also in the long term. This podcast provides an insight into the more immediate challenges such as the upcoming plastic packaging tax and digitisation and how the industry might respond. Flavie Lowres discusses the topic with expert panel Andrew Dunster, Alison Nicholl and Su Varma.

 

Listen now

Forthcoming events

  • Free
  • Hybrid Seminar
  • 17 March 2023

Elastomers in Power Generation

Focussing on the use of elastomers and elastomeric-like materials in power generation.

  • Conference
  • 10–11 May 2023

RubberCon 2023

International conference discussing and addressing the benefits and challenges of using elastomers in innovative, advanced and emerging technologies.

Edinburgh
  • Conference
  • 13 July 2023

Timber 2023

A conference for the timber industry, wood technologists, wood scientists and related trades, presenting many new and interesting concepts and developments in timber, wood science and related fields.

London
See more events

 

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Ceramics Group

The network for professional people working with advanced, engineering or industrial ceramics including clay and cementitious materials

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Technical Community Group

Polymer Group

A community of professionals with a shared technical interest in polymers, supporting the development of sustainable polymer supply chains

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Technical Community Group

Iron & Steel Group

Representing the iron and steel community, we provide technical expertise and advice related to all aspects of the manufacture, use and reuse of iron and steel based metals and alloys

See all our communities

 

 

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