Dr Brabha Nagaratnam

Associate Professor

School: Engineering, Physics and Mathematics

Dr. Brabha Nagaratnam is an Associate Professor or Reader at the Faculty of Engineering and Environment. She is also the Programme Leader for the Civil Engineering Degree Apprenticeship Programme at 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 mostly in Malaysia and Ireland, 5 years prior to joining academia. She started her academic career at Technological University Dublin in 2006. She then continued her academic career at Curtin University Malaysia from 2010 before joining Northumbria University as an Assistant Professor in 2017.

Her research interest is in innovative and sustainable construction materials i.e primarily concrete materials such as ultra-high performance, green concrete, self-compacting concrete, fibre reinforced concrete, analysis and design of structures, fire safety and structural investigations, and 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, in order to keep wastage at a minimum. Since, she has expanded her experimental research portfolio including lightweight steel structures, modular building construction and other structural materials.

She is also an active researcher with numerous publications in Q1 Journals and is currently a reviewer for the International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials, Journal of Construction and Building Materials and Journal of Cleaner Production.

Selected GRANTS:

1) Principal Investigator - European Regional Development Fund NU/Lynx Precast on Self Compacting Concrete Floor Slabs Containing Fibres (2019 to 2022)

2) Principal Investigator - European Regional Development Fund NU/Bespoke Concrete on Ultra High-Performance Concrete Thin Slabs (2020 to 2023)

3) Principal Supervisor - Knowledge Transfer Partnership with ESS Modular Construction, Ireland on Innovative Modular Building Connections (2020 to 2022).

4) Principal Investigator - Knowledge Transfer Partnership (Redbrooks/Northumbria University) Development of Composite Structures - Long Span Flooring Systems”. (2020)

5) Co-Investigator - ERDF Industrial Intensive Innovation Programme (IIIP) (NU/The Home Engineers) (2020 to 2023)

6) Co-Investigator - ERDF Industrial Intensive Innovation Programme, James Christopher Consulting Ltd, Newcastle (2019 to 2022)

7) Co-Investigator - Collaborative PhD Project, Northumbria University – Extraspace Solutions Ltd (2019 to 2022)

RESEARCH SUPERVISION:

10/2020-9/2023 (exp. completion): Muhamad Sifan, Durability of Ultra High Performance Concrete. (ERDF-Bespoke Concrete Funded) Principal Supervisor

01/2021-01/2024 (exp. completion): Heshachanaa Rajanayagam. Development of Innovative Modular Bracing and Connections. Principal Supervisor

2018-2022 (expected completion): Jeffri Ramli, Experimental and Numerical Studies of Steel Fibre Reinforced Self-Compacting Concrete Walls. (ERDF-Lynx Funded) Principal Supervisor

10/2018-9/2021 (completed): Thadshajini Suntharalingam. 3D Printed Concrete Structures with increased Structural Performance: Experimental and Numerical Study. (RDF Funded) Principal Supervisor

Completed. Tsao Kee Ern. MSc. Conflict Management Strategies for Project Leaders in Construction Industry. Principal Supervisor

2/2021-1/2024 (exp. completion). Armin Jamali. Porosity of Ultra-High Performance Concrete. (RDF Funded) Co-Supervisor

10/2020–09/2023 (exp. completion). Elilarasi Kanthasamy. Development of innovative modular construction beam. (ERDF – Home Designers) Co-Supervisor

10/2018–09/2021 (Completed) Gatheeshgar Perampalam. Optimum design of cold-formed steel beams for modular building applications. Co-Supervisor

10/2018-6/2021 (Completed): Hisham Hafez. Life Cycle Analysis of Concrete Using Supplementary Cementitious Material. (RDF Funded) Co-Supervisor

2019 - 2022 (exp completion). Ross Dobson. Structural Behaviour of Composite Light Weight Structures. Principal Supervisor

10/2019–09/2022 (exp. completion). Kurugamage Dilini Nuwanthika Perera. Fire Performance of Affordable and High-Quality Modular Building Systems. Co-Supervisor

10/2018-9/2021 (Completed): DM Madhushan Priyankara Dissanayake. Structural Behaviour of Stainless-Steel Beams Subjected to Shear, Bending, and Combined Bending and Shear Actions. Co-Supervisor

10/2019-9/2022(exp. completion): Deighton Widdowfield Small. Development of Innovative Timber Panels and Connections for Non-Standard Arrangement. Co-Supervisor

2018-2021 (Completed) Khizar Abid “Geomechanical Evaluation of the Depleted Reservoir for CO2 Sequestration and Storage. Co-Supervisor

Campus Address

Ellison Building ELB117
Northumbria University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 8ST

Email Brabha

Key Publications

Please visit the Pure Research Information Portal for further information
Effects of Polypropylene Waste and Functionalized Polypropylene Waste on the Properties of Sand Concrete and Lightweight Concrete Made with Sintered Fly Ash, Markandu, D., Railton, J., Nagaratnam, B., Ramli, J., Bousbaa, J., Unthank, M., Poologanathan, K. 13 Jan 2026, Proceedings of the RILEM Spring Convention and Conference 2025, Cham, Switzerland, Springer
Influence of GGBS and SRA on Early-Age Shrinkage Cracking Potential of Self-compacting Concrete: Insights from Capillary Pressure, Jamali, A., Mendes, J., Nagaratnam, B., Lim, M. 30 Aug 2025, Early-Age and Long-Term Cracking in RC Structures, New York, Springer
Investigating the Durability Characteristics of Brick Fired Rice Husk Ash as Sustainable Material for Fly Ash Based Geopolymer Concrete, Mahdi, S., Babu R, D., Ohno, M., Thomas, B., Nagaratnam, B., Nawaukkaratharnant, N. 22 Aug 2025, In: Engineered Science
Comprehensive evaluation of flat pack modular building systems: Design, structural performance, and operational efficiency, Rajanayagam, H., Beatinia, V., Poologanathan, K., Nagaratnam, B. 15 Oct 2024, In: Journal of Building Engineering
Novel multi-scale experimental approach and deep learning model to optimize capillary pressure evolution in early age concrete, Jamali, A., Marani, A., Railton, J., Nehdi, M., Nagaratnam, B., Lim, M., Mendes, J. 1 Jun 2024, In: Cement and Concrete Research
Optimizing Aggregate Selection and Mineral Additive to Enhance the Elasto-Mechanical Aspects of High-Performance Concrete, Mahdi, S., Kolambekodi, K., Arul, R., Kataware, A., Nawaukkaratharnant, N., Nagaratnam, B. Oct 2024, In: Engineered Science
Development and prospectives of lightweight high strength concrete using lightweight aggregates, Sifan, M., Nagaratnam, B., Thamboo, J., Poologanathan, K., Corradi, M. 2 Jan 2023, In: Construction and Building Materials
Effect of design variation in behaviour and performance of Endplate-Type intermodular connection, Rajanayagam, H., Yie Sue, C., Upasiri, I., Poologanathan, K., Nagaratnam, B., O'Grady, K., Corradi, M. 1 Oct 2023, In: Structures
Efficient mix design method for lightweight high strength concrete: A machine learning approach, Sifan, M., Nguyen, H., Nagaratnam, B., Thamboo, J., Poologanathan, K., Makul, N. 1 Sep 2023, In: Structures
Enhancing Energy Efficiency of Cold‐formed Steel Framed Walls with Vacuum Insulation Panels, Rajanayagam, H., Upasiri, I., Poologanathan, K., Gatheeshgar, P., Nagaratnam, B., Kanthasamy, E. 12 Sep 2023, In: ce/papers: the online collection for conference papers in civil engineering

PGR Supervision

Fitsum Haile Reinforcement of masonry structures with advanced materials Start Date: 16/10/2023 End Date: 02/07/2025
Jeffri Ramli DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF FIBRE REINFORCED SELFCOMPACTING CONCRETE FOR PRECAST SLABS APPLICATION Start Date: 01/10/2018 End Date: 17/10/2025
Dishan Markandu Light-weight High Performance Concrete for Floating Modular Structures Start Date: 01/03/2024 End Date: 17/10/2025
Jeffri Ramli DEVELOPMENT AND EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF FIBRE REINFORCED SELFCOMPACTING CONCRETE FOR PRECAST SLABS APPLICATION Start Date: 01/10/2018
Dishan Markandu Light-weight High Performance Concrete for Floating Modular Structures Start Date: 01/03/2024