We’re currently sponsoring two PhD students as part of the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Infrastructure and Built Environment: Resilience in a Changing World (FIBE2 CDT) programme.
For their four-year, fully funded studentships, Han Ding and India Harding have chosen research areas based on the theme of building future infrastructure resilience in the face of environmental threats.
Here, they talk us through their progress so far:
Han Ding – hyperspectral remote sensing
“My current research topic is the role of hyperspectral remote sensing (HRS) of ground contamination in sustainable land regeneration.
“So far, I’ve focused on:
- Establishing a comprehensive literature review in the relevant field
- Formulating research methodology
- Collecting soil and satellite data
- Performing a preliminary study in England. This has been done using decision-tree based machine learning algorithms.
“Preliminary results demonstrated satisfactory prediction accuracy, which implies the feasibility of employing this method in UK.
“The next step is to explore the applicability of other, more advanced, machine learning algorithms – incorporating environment covariates and other sources of hyperspectral images (such as drone etc.) in the analysis. This will allow me to further explore the potential of this methodology in sustainability land regeneration.”
India Harding – using waste as a stabilisation binder
“After completing my MRes, I’m now working on my PhD, where I hope to integrate my work on utilising kaolin mining waste as a geopolymer for use within earthen construction materials.
“So far, my research has shown that raw mining waste provides very little impact in terms of potential reactivity. However, upon calcination, the reactivity is circa ten-times greater, which improves its potential for use as a stabiliser within earthen construction materials.
“My next focus will be on the durability of earthen construction materials. I want to determine the impact waste clays have on properties such as compressive strength and water absorption. I will also study the availability and environmental impact of clays.”