Professor Leon Black

Professor Leon Black is the head of the Infrastructure Materials team at the University of Leeds. An analytical and materials’ chemist by background, who for the last 20 years has used various analytical techniques to investigate the structure and stability of cementitious materials, meaning he’s one of the few specialists in the world regarding cement chemistry. More recently, Professor Black has focused on composition-microstructure-performance relationships in low-clinker cementitious binders. Professor Black also leads the Centre for Infrastructure Materials, a part of UKCRIC. The Centre provides state of the art facilities for the characterisation of a huge suite of materials: from cement and concrete, through metals and polymers to new bio-composites - trying to move the construction industry from a linear build-use-demolish approach, to a circular build-use-reuse mindset.