BRIC Advisory Board

Chaminda is the Professor of Brownfield Research and Innovation in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Wolverhampton. He is the Director of the Brownfield Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC). Chaminda’s areas of research expertise are brownfield regeneration, disaster resilience and knowledge management which has enabled him to develop his specific research interest in community resilience within a brownfield development context. He has led a team that developed a community resilience assessment tool and he is currently researching on nitrate neutrality within brownfield sites and the BRIC Index.

Dan is a lecturer and course leader for Environmental Health in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Wolverhampton, who started his career at the Canal & River Trust looking at the contamination and bioavailability of potentially harmful elements in dredged sediments. Dan then moved to industry where he was a senior environmental consultant; during this time Dan developed his expertise in air quality evaluations. His current research focus is on land contamination and its human health impacts.

Oriyomi joined the team from the BECCI project. As a researcher within the BRIC team Yomi will support local SMEs and other organisations that need access to information on the location and condition of brownfield development sites within the Black Country.

Rana is a researcher on the BRIC project whose responsibilities include the development of the BRIC Index, studying and analysing existing brownfield data, its applications and limitations, representation of the data using state-of-the-art GIS systems, conducting comprehensive literature reviews of existing sustainable brownfield remediation processes and assisting local SMEs. Prior to joining BRIC, Rana was employed by the University of Salford where he attained his PhD. Rana is also working with academic colleagues to investigate brownfield sites for soil and building contamination using various technologies including BIM, LiDAR, XRF&D, thermography and GIS.

David is a Reader in Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Wolverhampton, who holds a BEng (Hons) degree in Civil Engineering from Loughborough University and an MSc (distinction) in CAD in Construction from the University of Wolverhampton. He completed his PhD at the University of Wolverhampton in 2004, which developed a suite of software tools to allow more effective planning on construction sites by utilising ‘4D’ BIM techniques. Prior to joining the University David worked for Atkins on various projects where he developed his expertise as a 3D computer-modelling engineer.

Tony is a Knowledge Transfer Manager for BRIC, who has a degree in Applied Sciences and a PhD in physical inorganic chemistry. He has over twenty five years’ experience of supporting the establishment and development of business-university interactions to enhance the skills base and economic performance and wellbeing of businesses. Before moving to the Higher Education Sector his initial career was in the specialty chemicals industry developing bespoke products and services for the molten metals ferrous and non-ferrous industry. 

Mark is the Project Manager for BRIC with 25 years’ experience in business support and technology transfer. He has spent a number of years working in Luxembourg and Brussels delivering and managing European networks focused on SME support and improving the business focused activities of European universities. With a degree in Geology and MScs in Mining Geology and Environment Monitoring Assessment he has a strong environment background, having worked in both the waste and water industries.

Yong is the Professor of Structural Engineering in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Wolverhampton. He has over 25 years of research experience in developing advanced computational models and applying them to solve a broad range of engineering problems, particularly in the area of sustainable engineering structures and materials. He has published widely over many years in this area.

Charf is a researcher at the Brownfield Research and Innovation Center (BRIC), who holds a MSc in Geotechnical Engineering and PhD from the University of the West of England. He has developed a Decision Support System (DSS) to inform decision-making and effectively identify hazards associated with brownfield sites. His expertise is in theoretical and applied soil mechanics, with specific insight in advanced soil constitutive modelling and numerical simulation of wave propagation and soil dynamics problems. Prior to joining BRIC, he worked at the Ministry of Housing, Urban Planning and the City (Algeria), as a Geotechnical Engineer. In parallel, he has founded a construction company, offered commercial project management, engineering, procurement, and construction services. Currently, he is leading the further development of the BRIC Index to compare and analyse brownfield sites across the Black Country using a GIS database. He is also undertaking site visits, working on the physical evaluation of samples and scans as necessary, and applying relevant research methods and analysing remediation patterns to support SMEs.