Prof. Susan A Bernal

Profile

Susan is Visiting Professor of Structural Materials in the School of Civil Engineering at University of Leeds, and holds a prestigious EPSRC Early Career Fellowship in Multi-scale Engineering of Sustainable Concretes. Previously she was University Academic Fellow in Cementitious Materials at Leeds (2018-2019), and Research Fellow in Cements in the world leading NucleUS Immobilisation Science Laboratory in Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The University of Sheffield (2012-2018). During that period she also held a one year appointment (2015-2016) as Lecturer in Concrete Technology in the Civil and Structural Engineering Department of this University. Prior to this, she was a Postdoctoral fellow (2009-2010) with Professor Jørgen Skibsted in the iNANO Instrument Center for Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy at Aarhus University, Denmark, and she then undertook a Research Fellow position (2010-2012) focusing on durability assessment of alkali-activated concretes, with Professor Jannie van Deventer and Professor John Provis in the Chemical Engineering Department at The University of Melbourne, Australia.

Distinctions

• Recipient of one of the Materials and Structures Outstanding Paper 2022 Awards – see paper here.
• Recipient of the 2022 RILEM Robert L’Hermite medal, in recognition of exceptional scientific contribution to the field of construction materials and structures.
• Recipient of the 2021 The Kavli Foundation Early Career Lectureship in Materials Science by the Materials Research Society (MRS), in recognition of significant novel contributions to materials science.
• Recipient of the 2020 IOM3 Rosenhain Medal and Prize for distinguished achievements in any branch of materials science – read more here
• Recipient of one of the Materials and Structures Outstanding Paper 2020 Awards – see paper here
• Recipients of one of the 2018 ICE Advances in Cement Research Prize (Best paper in the journal) - see paper here
• Recipient of one of the two 2016 RILEM Gustavo Colonnetti medals for outstanding scientific contributions to the field of construction materials and structures
• Recipient of one of the 2016 Distinguished Graduate Awards, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad del Valle, Colombia, in recognition of outstanding scientific contributions promoting regional development.
• Recipient of one of the Walter Mangold Trust Fund scholarship for studies in Australia, 2008. The programme provided funding for a 1-year occupational trainee position in The Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at The University of Melbourne, Australia.
• Recipient of a COLCIENCIAS DEng Scholarship, 2005: Enhancement of Colombian Scientific Community through National Doctorate Programmes. (Fortalecimiento de la comunidad científica a través del programa de doctorados nacionales, Créditos condonables COLCIENCIAS).

Ongoing Professional Activities

• Member of the IOM3 Cementitious Materials group, part the newly formed Ceramics Group, since 2023
• Deputy-Chair of the RILEM technical committee TC 281 – CCC: Carbonation of concrete with supplementary cementitious materials, since 2017.
• Member of the RILEM technical committee TC UMW – Upcycling powder mineral “wastes” into cement matrices, since 2023.
• Member of the RILEM technical committee TC MCP – Accelerated mineral carbonation for the production of construction materials, since 2022.
• Member of the RILEM technical committee TC 294 – MPA: Mechanical properties of alkali-activated concretes, since 2019.
• Member of the RILEM technical committee TC 283 – CAM: Chloride transport in alkali-activated materials, since 2018.
• Member of the RILEM technical committee TC 282 – CCL: Calcined clays as supplementary cementitious materials, since 2018.

Ongoing Commisions of Trust

• Member of the UKRI Talent Peer-Review College. Since 2021
• Member of the EPSRC Peer Review College. Since 2019
• Editor, Cement and Concrete Research. Since 2022
• Associate Editor, RILEM Technical Letters. Since 2016

Ongoing Research Projects

• 2023 – 2024. Up-scaling on-site CO₂ utilisation for decarbonisation of dispersed cement sector: a novel route to reliable net-zero concretes. IDRIC Wave 2 funding. X. Key (PI, U. Bath), P. Rainford (Heriot-Watt U.) & S.A. Bernal (U. Leeds).
• 2022 – 2026. Engineering UK clays for production of low carbon cements. EPSRC grant (EP/W021811/1). U. Leeds investigators: L. Black, A. Marsh, S.A. Bernal; in collaboration with colleagues from Imperial College London and British Geological Survey.
• 2022 – 2025. Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Wienerberger Ltd. U. Leeds investigators: S.A. Bernal (PI), J. Forth (co-I) & A. Marsh (co-I)
• 2022  – 2025. Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Sika Ltd. U. Leeds investigators: S.A. Bernal (PI) & L. Black (co-I)
• 2021 – 2024. UKRI Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre For Mineral-based Construction Materials. EPSRC grant (EP/V011820/1). U. Leeds investigators: L. Black, O. Iuorio, C. Velis & S.A. Bernal; in collaboration with colleagues from UCL, Loughborough U., Imperial College London, Lancaster U. & U. Sheffield. 
• 2021 – 2023. Transforming Foundation Industries – A Network plus towards value by innovation. EPSRC / ISCF grant (EP/V026402/1). Investigator: I. Reaney (U. Sheffield, Director), S.A. Bernal (U. Leeds, Co-Director), W. Sampson (U. Manchester) and C. Preydell-Pearce (Swansea U.)
• 2018 - 2024. Multicale engineering of alkali-activated concretes for sustainable infrastructure. EPSRC Early Career Fellowship (EP/R001642/1). Investigator: S.A Bernal

Research interests

Susan’s research centres on novel cements and concretes, particularly focusing on waste management and valorisation, multi-scale infrastructure materials characterisation, durability assessment, and improving sustainability of novel cement and concrete technologies. Specifically Susan focuses on:

(i) Development, characterisation and exploitation of advanced and non-traditional cement and cement and concrete technologies, including:

• Design of bespoke cements including geopolymers and alkali-activated materials for waste management and/or valorisation.
• Determining the factors controlling phase assemblage evolution and stability of non-Portland cements, including application of thermodynamic modelling.
• Mechanisms leading to structural modifications of Portland and non-Portland cements exposed to aggressive environments, emphasising chemical/physical binding of anions/cations and structural phase transformations.
• Validation of testing methods for physicochemical characterisation of supplementary cementitious materials
• Development and validation of standardised testing methods to determine performance of alkali-activated materials

(ii) Sustainability aspects of novel cement and concrete technologies

• Waste management and valorisation for production of low carbon construction materials
• Circularity of cement and concretes integrating durability concepts
• Infrastructure for well-being

(iii) Evaluation of fit-for-purpose cementitious wasteforms for immobilisation of nuclear wastes, including:

• Chemical/physical binding mechanisms of radionuclides in cements with different chemistries
• Phase assemblage evolution and stability of Portland and non-Portland based cementitious wasteforms
• Effect of radiation in cementitious systems

• CMMI-EPSRC RENACEM: Response to CO2 exposure of concrete with natural supplementary cementitious materials
• Engineered UK clays for production of low-carbon cements
• Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-based Construction Materials (ICEC-MCM)
• Multi-scale engineering of alkali-activated concretes for sustainable infrastructure
• Novel Approach for Vital Infrastructure Post Disaster (NOVA VIDA)
• Passive layER FailuRe Mechanisms (PERFoRM)

Qualifications

• Doctor in Engineering, emphasis in Materials Engineering (Cum Laude) Universidad del Valle, Colombia
• Materials Engineer (Cum Laude), Universidad del Valle, Colombia

Professional memberships

• Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, IOM3
• Senior Member of International Union of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems and Structures, RILEM

Research groups and institutes

• Materials and Structures

Current postgraduate researchers

• Yuyan Huang
• Moro Sabtiwu
• Zengliang Yue
• Heng Song
• Donald C Nwonu
• Ali Khaled Saleh

Projects

<li><a href="//phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/1333-low-carbon-and-reusable-structural-systems-formed-with-eco-friendly-materials-for-sustainable-infrastructures">Low-carbon and reusable structural systems formed with eco-friendly materials for sustainable infrastructures</a></li>