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.
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Meet the Construction Materials Leadership Team
Dr Flavie Lowres FIMMM
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 Graham Ormondroyd FIMMM
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.
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 Morwenna Spear FIMMM
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 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.
Andrew Dunster
Andrew Dunster works at BRE, a construction-related RTO. He is active in the fields of sustainable use of construction materials, particularly cements, construction aggregates and concretes. He also has a wider interest in the foundation industries and their impact on construction. Andrew has been a member of the SDG since 2010. He is interested in learning from non-construction industry sectors and contributing to occasional papers, webinars etc. Andrew has other links with IOM3, including to the Cementitious Materials Subgroup, part of the Ceramics Group; and also to the Construction Materials Group.
Richard J. Ball, BEng, PhD, FHEA, CEng CSci, FIMMM
Richard holds a BEng in Materials Science and Engineering (1997) and a PhD on failure mechanisms in valve regulated lead acid batteries (2000), both from the University of Bath. He held research roles at the Universities of Bath and Bristol before joining his current department in 2010.
Richards research focuses on microstructure–macrostructure relationships in construction materials, particularly how these influence performance and durability. He has worked extensively on cementitious binders, degradation mechanisms, water transport, and sensor integration, as well as on materials for 3D printing, conservation, and improving indoor air quality.
Richard has led research projects funded by UKRI, the Leverhulme Trust, Royal Academy of Engineering, Royal Society, British Council, Historic England, and industry.
He has received awards, including the Howard Medal (ICE), the Outstanding Service Award (IOM3), the Elsevier Atlas Award, and a prize for Excellence in Doctoral Supervision from the University of Bath.
Richard is President of the West of England Metals and Materials Association, affiliated with IOM3, and a member of the Bristol Scientific Club. He is also Senior Editor of the Elsevier journal, Construction and Building Materials.
Antonios Kanellopoulos
Antonis is a Reader (Associate Professor) in Innovative Construction Materials at the School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Hertfordshire. He is the Director of the Centre for Engineering Research and the head of Civil Engineering & Built Environment.
Previously he held the position of research fellow at the University of Cambridge (2013-2017) working on self-healing cement-based materials at the division of Civil Engineering (2013-2016) and on graphene modified construction materials at the Cambridge Graphene Centre (2016-2017).
His research revolves around innovative construction materials with a focus on upcycling technologies for mineral wastes, high performance cementitious composites and biomimicry for construction materials.
Antonis is chartered engineer (CEng), chartered scientist (CSci), a member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, a senior member of the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM) and a member of the Institute of Concrete Technology and Fellow of Higher Education Academy.
Dr. Giovanni Pesce
Giovanni holds a Doctorate in Materials Engineering for the Sciences of Construction from the University of Genoa (2006) and a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Bath (UK, 2014). Prior to joining Northumbria University, he held research positions at both the University of Genoa and the University of Bath.
At Northumbria, Dr. Pesce has undertaken several leadership roles, including serving as Unit of Assessment Lead for the Architecture and Built Environment department and as Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange in the Mechanical and Construction Engineering department.
His research focuses on the development of sustainable building materials aimed at reducing the significant environmental impact of the construction industry. With over 20 years of experience in lime and lime-based materials, his interests also extend to gypsum- and clay-based systems.
Dr. Pesce is an active member of several professional and scientific organisations, including the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IoM3), the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, the Royal Microscopical Society, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), and the International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures (RILEM).
