Dr. Han Fang

Profile

Han is a Lecturer in Structural Engineering in the School of Civil Engineering at University of Leeds. She has an international research profile with the expertise in advanced and ecofriendly construction materials and development and rebuild of sustainable and resilient structural systems for next generation infrastructure. She maintains international networks for research collaboration developed through her work experiences at different universities. Before joining University of Leeds, she was a Lecturer in Structural Engineering at University of Adelaide (2019-2022), a Postdoctoral Doctoral Fellow at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (2016-2019) and an Investigator of Chinese National Engineering Research Centre For Steel Construction Hong Kong Branch (2016-current). 

Responsibilities

• MSc in Structural Engineering Programme Lead

Research interests

Dr. Fang’s research primarily focuses on advanced and eco-friendly construction materials and development of low-carbon, reusable and resilient structural systems for infrastructure construction in a circular economy. The research has received the funding and sponsorship from industry partners and government, and is being carried out collaboratively with academics in different countries with expertise in structures, mechanical engineering, concrete technology and structural health monitoring. Specifically Han performs research into:

1) Characterisation of advanced and ecofriendly construction materials properties including high-strength steel, LC3 concrete, geopolymer concrete produced from industry waste, fibre-reinforced high-strength concrete, and shape memory alloys;

2) Development and mechanism investigation of high-strength and low-carbon structural systems considering short-term and life-cycle conditions;

3) Devlopment and mechanism investigation of reusable, durable and low-carbon structural systems using concrete made from industry wastes, considering short-term and life-cycle conditions;

4) Disaster resistance of aforementioned structures for resilience. 

Recent grants

Carbonated waste for the production of zero-carbon concrete, £3200, from EPSRC, Sole PI, Scholar: Alicia Hartigan Castilla;

Towards machine learning-aided design and additive manufacturing of artificial meniscal tissue, £7977.7, from Horizon Institute, Co-I;

2D nano-materials produced from waste for strengthening cement or binders for concrete, £3000, from QinetiQ, Sole PI, Scholar: Rafaela Simao Da Silva;

How much decarbonisation can we achieve for buildings using concrete produced from waste, recycled-aggregates or by-products?, £3200, from EPSRC, Sole PI, Scholar: Josie Pitt;

Next generation sustainable and durable concrete roadways for underground mining, £2,000, from OZ Minerals, Co-I;

Maping of residual stresses in 3D WAAM printed structures using Neutron Diffraction, £14,100, from ANSTO, Co-I;

Investigating the use of carots in concrete for lower carbon emission and higher strength, £11,500. from OZ Minerals, Co-I;

Digital-twinning and additive manufacturing for the management and restoration of critical metallic infrastructures, £8,600, PI;

Previous grants contribution

Remote monitoring and automatic repairing technology of metallic infrastructure for defence, energy and mining industry, £6,300, Early career fund University of Adelaide, Co-I

Fatigue life improvement technique for welded high-strength steel joints, £2,600, Preliminary research fund University of Adelaide, PI

Experimental and numerical investigation of high strength steel-concrete composite octagonal shaped columns, £66,100, RGC HK Gov, Researcher participation.

Invited Speaker, Scientific Committee Member and Other Professional Activities

Scientific committee member of 12th International Conference on Advances in Steel Structures (2025)

Scientific committee member of 4th International Symposium on Industrialized Construction Technology (2025)

Scientific committee member of 19th International Symposium on Tubular Structures (2025)

Invited speaker of 17th Asia Pacific Conference on Fracture and Strength (2022)

Invited speaker of 13th Conference on Structural Integrity and Failure (2022)

Scientific committee member of 17th Asia Pacific Conference on Fracture and Strength (2022)

Scientific committee member of 13th Conference on Structural Integrity and Failure (2022)

Scientific committee member & section chair of 10th Australasian Congress on Applied Mechanics (2021)

Organising committee member of 7th Asia Pacific Conference on FRP in Structures (2019)

Organising committee member of 9th International Conference on Advances in Steel Structures (2018)

Editorial board member

Guest Editor for the special issue ‘Advanced Materials, Structural Systems and Construction for Green Buildings’ with Buildings_Journal

Editorial board member of Frontiers in Built Environment (Earthquake Engineering section)

Awards

Emeritus Professor Paul Grundy Memorial Scholarship (2014-2015)

Monash Engineering Women’s Leadership Award (2015)

Full PhD Scholarship, Monash University (2011-2015)

Dean’s honor list, Monash University (2010)

Postgraduate research opportunities

I welcome the enquires and expression of interests from motivated and qualified applicants from all around the world who are interested in PhD study. The available projects are:

1) Low-carbon and reusable structural systems formed using high-strength and eco-friendly materials made from industry waste (https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1338-life-cycle-performance-of-low-carbon-concrete-structures-under-service-loading);

2) Rebuild cost-efficient and sustainable infrastructures using demolished structural waste (https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1385-reuse-of-deconstruction-waste-for-sustainable-infrastructures-in-a-circular-economic-built-environment);

3)Multiple robotic assembly and operation for infrastructure construction (https://phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1639-multiple-robotic-assembly-and-operation-for-infrastructure-construction). 

Examination of PhD thesis

Monash University (1); University of Leeds (2); University of Queensland (1)

Professional membership

EPSRC UKRI Early Career Forum Member

Member (MIMMM), Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining

Completed PhD supervision

Dr. Jinhang Wu (completed in 2024, University of Adelaide)

Qualifications

• PhD in Structural Engineering (Monash University)
• Bachelor of Civil Engineering (1st honour) (Monash University)

Student education

• CIVE 2150 Structural Design 1
• CIVE 5145/5977 Advanced steel and composite design

Research groups and institutes

• Materials and Structures
• Cities, Infrastructure and Energy

Current postgraduate researchers

• Sam Wilcock
• Ahmed Sameer Younus
• Ali Khaled Saleh
• Wenting Li
• Kaiyuan Wei

Projects

<li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1338-life-cycle-performance-of-low-carbon-concrete-structures-under-service-loading">Life-cycle performance of low-carbon concrete structures under service loading</a></li> <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1639-multiple-robotic-assembly-and-operation-for-infrastructure-construction">Multiple robotic assembly and operation for infrastructure construction</a></li> <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1382-optimisation-of-reinforced-concrete-structures-for-sustainability-and-cost-efficiency-with-the-consideration-of-uncertainties">Optimisation of reinforced-concrete structures for sustainability and cost-efficiency with the consideration of uncertainties</a></li> <li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1385-reuse-of-deconstruction-waste-for-sustainable-infrastructures-in-a-circular-economic-built-environment">Reuse of deconstruction waste for sustainable infrastructures in a circular economic built environment</a></li>