I am a materials scientist and engineer with a passion for resilient and sustainable infrastructure.
Following my undergraduate MEng (Hons) degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering at University College London (UCL), I undertook a PhD at Imperial College London to pursue a career in research. Permeable pavements absorb stormwater to prevent surface flooding, however conventional approaches are prone to clogging and have a very limited operational service-life. I have been inspired to question the status quo from an early age and therefore I developed a unique solution to this problem during my PhD, rather than trying to improve the existing pavement systems that has been unsuccessfully attempted by others. Through laboratory testing and multiple iterations, I have produced a next-generation permeable pavement (called Kiacrete) that never clogs and has a long, maintenance free 40-year service-life. This pavement has been delivered at a trial site at White City in London, exposed to real-world conditions for over two and half years and has shown excellent performance. More recently I have secured two research Fellowships (Royal Academy of Engineering, RAEng, and UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, FLF) to further develop Kiacrete for use in critical infrastructure (e.g. highways, airports). This ongoing work is supported by local government, transport infrastructure and utility operators, engineering consultancies and contractors, who see the benefit from this technology in increasing the resilience of these critical assets to current and future climate change, along with the need to increase the sustainability of the built environment towards a net-zero future.