Nick Buenfeld is Professor of Concrete Structures (2000- ) and Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2011- ) at Imperial College London. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Institution of Structural Engineers.

The Department he leads develops the understanding, tools and people needed to create and maintain sustainable and resilient natural and built environments. Currently there are 55 full-time academics, 20 Visiting and Emeritus Professors, over 200 researchers, 350 undergraduates and close to 300 MSc students.

Nick is an expert in the long-term performance of concrete structures. As a graduate engineer working on the design of large structures he was struck by the mismatch between Society's need for long-life infrastructure and the lack of evidence that this could be achieved. He joined Imperial as an MSc student wanting to discover more, stayed for a PhD and has since been a Research Fellow, Lecturer, Reader and Professor.  He was recently awarded a £9M EPSRC grant to establish the Advanced Infrastructure Materials Lab, the centrepiece of a new Centre aiming to develop the next generation of infrastructure materials. More information on his research interests can be found via the RESEARCH tab above and on his research group’s website - http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/concretedurability

Nick has supervised over 30 PhDs and 60 MSc research projects and has taught undergraduates and MSc students the philosophy of design, design and analysis of concrete structures, concrete technology, materials selection and materials science. 

He has provided guidance to governments and to the designers and constructors of major infrastructure projects including the Great Man-Made River Project in Libya, the New Los Angeles Cathedral, the Beirut Sea Front Project, the Channel Tunnel, the Jubilee Line Extension, the new Tyne Tunnel, Tsing Ma and Tsing Lung Bridges in Hong Kong, Belgium's high level nuclear waste repository and the UK’s new nuclear power programme.