Dr Xinyuan Ke has over 10 years of professional experience research in the field of sustainable materials technology aimed at decarbonising the construction industry. She holds a PhD degree in Materials Science and Engineering (University of Sheffield, PhD thesis awarded the Ceramic Prize). She joined University of Bath in 2018 after being awarded the prestigious Prize Fellowship in recognition of her research contributions.

Dr Ke’s current research focuses on developing innovative green material technologies to enhance the longevity, resource, and energy efficiency of buildings. Her research approach combines experimental methods (i.e., mechanochemical processes, advanced materials characterisation) with modelling techniques (thermodynamic modelling, data-driven predictive models).

Dr Ke's core research topics are:

• Alkali-activated materials and geopolymers
• Mechanochemical processes for resources valorisation
• CO₂ utilisation and carbonation mechanisms in cementitious materials
• Thermodynamic and data-driven modelling for materials design and optimisation

Since starting her academic position in 2018, Dr Ke has secured and led 5 research grants as the Principle Investigator (PI) with an overall funding portfolio of approximately £ 1M, including a £320k EPSRC New Investigator Award 'GeoBattery' and £400k IDRIC WAVE2 for the project ‘Up-scaling on-site CO₂ utilisation for decarbonisation of dispersed cement sector: a novel route to reliable net-zero concretes’. She currently manages a research team of six researchers (PDRA, RAs, and doctoral researchers).

In 2022, Dr. Ke led a PI project, ‘Innovative green process to turn alkali solid wastes into carbon-negative feedstock for the cement industry’, funded by the Transforming Foundation Industry Network+, which was awarded the “Best Early Career Researcher-led Project” with a prize from QinetiQ.

• Novel geopolymer composite for smart applications
• Carbon neutral cementitious materials via CO₂ utilisation
• Data-driven design of low-carbon construction materials