Dr. Brabha Nagaratnam is a Senior Lecturer and Year Tutor (Level 4) in the Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University. She is a structural engineer with a sustainable and value engineering background. Her career commenced in the construction industry working in structural design firms in large value construction projects, mostly in Kuala Lumpur and Dublin, for five years prior to joining academia. Previously, at Curtin University and Dublin Institute of Technology, she lectured in the area of Construction Materials and Structural Analysis and Design for 15 years. Her research focus is in innovative and sustainable construction materials, green asphaltic concrete, analysis and design of structures, fire safety and structural investigations, repair and strengthening. She believes that all future builds should have as little impact on the environment as possible and use as many natural materials as possible in order to keep wastage at a minimum. She has developed several new construction materials such as high-performance concrete, including quarry dust and self-consolidating concrete with agricultural and industrial wastes. She is also an active researcher with numerous publication in Q1 Journals and is currently a reviewer for International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials.