Essie Ganjian

After obtaining his PhD in Civil Engineering and concrete technology at Leeds University, Prof. Ganjian held a number of research and academic positions at Leeds University, Building and Housing Research Centre and KNT University of Tehran. He also worked in different consultancy firms and supervised major civil engineering works for quality control of concrete and mix design for special applications. Eshmaiel joined Coventry University's Faculty of Engineering, Environment and Computing in 1998 and has been the principal investigator and project leader for a number of successful research projects at the faculty. He provides expertise and training in advanced techniques in Civil Engineering Materials in various research projects. Prof. Ganjian became a Reader in Civil Engineering Materials in 2008 and a professor in 2015.

Eshmaiel has 140 publications including 40 in major journals, 3 major text books and 2 patents. He aspires to develop advanced smart construction materials that are sustainable and have low environmental impact with this new line of research in Civil Engineering Materials.

Prof. Ganjian’s main research interests includes development of low-carbon cement, novel cementing materials and concrete using by-products and waste materials, utilisation of various mineral wastes in Controlled Low Strength Materials, corrosion mitigation of chloride contaminated reinforced concrete structures, investigation into alternative fibres as a suitable replacement for asbestos fibre used in composite cement boards, and developing instrumentation for road pavement layers evaluations.

With concerns about the environmental impact of the built environment becoming increasingly urgent, my research is directed at solving a number of problems which are of fundamental importance to industry and society – namely making use of waste products in construction as viable alternatives to environmentally harmful ones, and offering safer alternatives in the developing world to materials such as asbestos, to slow its further release into the environment.

The key innovation in my work is the complete substitution of conventional Portland cement by mineral industrial wastes to produce low to medium strength concrete (my patent number: 1307622.9). In addition the use of cement board containing syntactic and cellulose fibres obtained from waste cardboard, as an effective asbestos substitute is the subject of my patent number: 20100234491.