On July 8, Professor Theodore Hanein, Chair of Construction Materials Science at the University of Leeds, UK, visited the China-UK Low Carbon College (LCC) of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to deliver lectures at the Summer School. LCC held a ceremony for the visiting professor appointment, marking the launch of international cooperation between the two institutions in the field of green and low-carbon building materials. Geng Yong, Dean of LCC, along with LCC faculty representatives including Ji Ya, Long Xia, Tong Kangkang, Yao Lin and Zhang Yaoxin, as well as the representatives from Summer School and international students at LCC, attended the appointment ceremony and subsequent discussion. The ceremony was chaired by Geng Yong.

Geng Yong extended a warm welcome to Theodore Hanein. During the conferral ceremony, Geng Yong introduced the academic background and research achievements of Theodore Hanein, a formal conferral ceremony was held; Theodore Hanein delivered his acceptance speech, sharing the research insights he had accumulated through his long-term dedication to the fields of low-carbon cement and sustainable building materials. He expressed his anticipation of academic collaboration with LCC and hoped that both parties could join forces to promote the practical application and commercialization of green building materials technology. Representatives of LCC faculty members and students engaged in in-depth discussions on topics such as research collaboration and international exchange.

Theodore Hanein is a leading scholar in the field of low-carbon cement and sustainable building materials globally. He holds the position of Future Leaders Fellow at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), and serves as Vice President of the board of ISCOWA (The International Society for the Environmental and Technical Implications of Construction with Alternative Materials), as well as the Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (MIMMM). At the University of Leeds, he has conducted pioneering research into green, circular and smart cement manufacturing, producing a series of original findings with significant potential for industrial application in the fields of sustainable building materials and low-carbon industrial processes.

This collaborative appointment focuses on the construction industry, a key global sector for emissions reduction. Moving forward, both parties will fully leverage the research strengths of LCC in the fields of circular economy and low-carbon development, alongside the University of Leeds’ technical expertise in low-carbon building materials engineering, to jointly advance the implementation of low-carbon technologies and talents development.