Michal P. Drewniok

I am a Lecturer in Civil Engineering at the School of Civil Engineering, University of Leeds.

My background is civil engineering and I hold a PhD in concrete technology from Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, Poland. Prior to my current positions, I worked as a Site Engineer and Concrete and Production Technologist at Precast Concrete Manufacture.

In 2015 I joined the University of Cambridge as a Research Assistant in Material Efficiency in Construction.  As part of two groups, The Resource Efficiency Collective led by Jonathan Cullen, and The Use Less Group led by Julian Allwood, I was involved in two projects, both centred on making better use of steel in construction.

The first explored the barriers to steel reuse, and the second was looking at the role of material efficiency in building conception and design in construction. In March 2018 I joined the Structures Group at the University of Cambridge working on the project Minimising Energy in Construction (MEICON) led by Dr John Orr where I was exploring the practice of structural engineering that leads to structural inefficiencies.

In 2019-2020, I received £40,000 from EPSRC IAA for an internship at RAMBOLL – Structural Engineering Practice to study the relationship between embodied carbon and different reinforced concrete floor systems and two projects: post-construction assessment of embodied carbon for Civil Engineering Building in Cambridge and barriers on low carbon concrete technologies in the UK.

In 2020, in collaboration with Expedition Engineering, I received an EPSRC IAA Knowledge Transfer Fellowship on “Climate compatible decision making in the construction sector” (£70,000).

In 2021, I joined the University of Bath as a Research Associate in Efficient Concrete Structures in UK FIRES to explore ways to achieve carbon reduction targets in UK construction.

In 2022, I joined TransFire Hub as a Research Fellow in Transforming Foundation Industries at the University of Leeds.

Since January 2018 I have been a main coordinator of the Resource Efficiency in Construction and the Built Environment (RECBE), a forum for academics, architects, designers, engineers, contractors and policy makers who would like to explore ideas how can the built environment deliver future energy and material services, while at the same time reducing resource use and environmental impact.

In 2021 I joined the Low Carbon Concrete Group that in 2022 developed the Low Carbon Concrete Routemap.