Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design

The International Conference of Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS) brings together global experts to focus on a sustainability agenda and the positive and detrimental changes that are taking place. Papers presented at the conference come from across a broad spectrum of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and bring forward practices to tackle the climate emergency and evaluate their impact. It addresses technical issues, measuring, monitoring, and assessing change, emphasizing the environment, infrastructure, and buildings, how they exist in relative isolation, and the possibilities for sustainable integration. The SEEDS Conference addresses the interdependence of people and the built and natural environments and recognizes the interdisciplinary and international themes necessary to assemble the knowledge required for positive change.

Christopher Gorse is Professor of Construction Engineering and Management at Loughborough University, with 35 years construction consultancy and research experience.  He has written extensively in the areas of energy, sustainability, social sustainability, systems management, infrastructure, construction technology, refurbishment and management.  Chris’s multidisciplinary background established him as a leading authority on building quality, systems, standardisation and performance.  Chris also holds Visiting Professor positions at the University of Suffolk and Central University of Technology in South Africa, engaging internationally on sustainability and lean construction.  Chris is the founding Chair of the International Conference for Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS) and past Chair of the Association of Researchers in Construction Management (ARCOM). 

Bianca Drotleff is a Project Manager at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), where she helps develop new thinking and solutions for businesses to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy that enables all people to lead healthy, flourishing lives within planetary boundaries. She also sits on IEMA’s Circular Economy Steering Group, where she delivers accessible content on the topic for members. Previously, Bianca worked at the Leeds Sustainability Institute, where she coordinated the International SEEDS Conference. Before this, she worked for CSR Europe, a Brussels-based organisation, where she supported their work on the circular economy, including the EU-funded project “R2π – tRansition from linear 2 circular”, investigating circular business models. She holds an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Leeds and a BSc in International Business and Management from the University of Bradford. Throughout her studies, her research focused on circulareconomy as a solution to reaching the net zero ambition.  

Beth Jones is a Research and Project Coordinator for Leeds Sustainability Institute based within the School of Built Environment Engineering and Computing at Leeds Beckett University. Beth coordinates the annual International SEEDS Conference and supports with the editing of the proceedings and publications, including the annual series of the Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS) Springer Nature book.

Mohammad Dastbaz is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Suffolk. Professor Dastbaz’s research work over recent years has been focused on the use and impact of emerging technologies in society, particularly learning, training and the development of “eGovernment.” Dr. Dastbaz has led EU and UK-based funded research projects and has been the Symposium Chair of Multimedia Systems in IEEE’s Information Visualisation (IV) conference since 2002. He has over 65 refereed publications, including numerous journal paper articles, conference papers, book chapters and books on e-learning, eGovernment, and the design and development of Multimedia Systems. Professor Dastbaz is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and the UK’s Higher Education Academy as well as a professional member of the ACM and IEEE Computer Society.

Lloyd M. Scott is a Professor of Practice in the Construction Science Division at the University of Oklahoma. He is also a practicing academic at the Technological University Dublin (formerly the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT)). He attended DIT as a trade apprentice in Carpentry and Joinery and later qualified with a City and Guilds certificate in Site Management, where he worked in the industry as site superintendent for some years. Lloyd was a scholarship recipient at the University of Limerick where he earned a B.Tech (Hons) in Wood and Building Technology in 1988. He received a MA in Educational Management at Waterford Institute of Technology and a PhD from The School of the Built Environment at the University of Salford. Dr. Scott worked in construction as a site superintendent for a large contracting company in Dublin for many years. He continues to perform select projects, and provide consulting services with the emphasis on sustainable construction practice. Before becoming associated with the University of Oklahoma in 2009, he had spent the previous nine years in the newly formed Construction Management (CM) Department at DIT where he set up the CM program. He has been recognized for his efforts with students in and out of the classroom, has published a number of articles in peer-reviewed journals and has completed various externally funded projects. His research interests revolve around sustainability in construction and educational assessment in built environment. Professor Scott is an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Construction Education and Research and also serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation and The Mass Timber Journal. 

Colin Booth has been the Associate Head for Research and Scholarship for Architecture and the Built Environment since joining the University of the West of England in early 2012. He has also been a Director of the Construction and Property Research Centre, and a Director of the Centre for Floods, Communities and Resilience. He has previously been the Research Leader for a School of Built Environment, a Reader in Construction Management, a Reader in Civil Engineering, an Overseas Tutor (Hong Kong), a Senior Lecturer in Civil and Environmental Engineering, a European Research Project Manager and he has also held several Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship posts at other universities. He holds the distinguished titles of Visiting Professor of Civil Engineering and Visiting Professor of Sustainability at prestigious international universities.

Saheed Ajayi is a Professor of Digital Construction and Project Management and the Director of Construction Informatics and Digital Enterprise Laboratory (CIDEL) within the school of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing. His research interests are in Building Information Modelling (BIM), Sustainable Construction (with specific focus on waste management), Competency-based Modelling and Construction Informatics (the use of Digital Technologies such as Big Data Analytics, IoT and Machine Learning in Construction). Saheed holds a PhD in Construction and Architectural Management, MSc (with distinction) in Sustainable Architecture and Healthy Building and a BSc with First Class (Hons) in Architecture. Prior to joining the academia, he has worked in various capacities within the construction industry as a design/project architect and construction project manager. Over the years,he has been involved in various collaborative and multidisciplinary research involving key players within the UK construction industry. He has executed various externally funded projects with a combined value of up to £7 million.

Darryl Newport is Professor of Energy and Sustainable Development and Director of the Suffolk Sustainability Institute. He is an environmental scientist specialising in the built environment. His research and policy interests include alternative energy systems, sustainable construction through alternative material use and natural resource management including resource efficiency. He has written extensively in the areas of sustainable development, alternative energy, urban green infrastructure, resource efficiency and waste management. He currently leads the strategic sustainable development of the University of Suffolk. He is involved in numerous ongoing research and consultancy projects, national and international, as well as conducting research into novel construction materials. Darryl is a current Chair of the International Conference for Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS) Currently focusing on the advancement of green technology and removal of the barriers to decarbonisation within the built environment utilizing green infrastructure. He has been successful in attracting multiple national and international funded projects with a combined value of up to £18 million.