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Prof. Brian McFarland Eng (Hons) CEng MICE FIEI MICorr MCS

Managing Director

Brian is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the condition assessment and remediation of damaged and deteriorating structures. Brian was awarded a Professorship by Queens University in recognition of his extensive experience and also performs expert witness duties

After graduating from Aston University, Brian joined Mott MacDonald where he later became chartered.  His work at Motts, within their Special Services Division, retained him within the specialist field of deteriorating structures and led to experience working overseas.  Whilst at Motts, he became interested in the deterioration of car parks and underground structures and has since published a variety of articles on the subjects.

On becoming Chartered, he worked for a UK leading Contractor (Makers) and spent some six years developing the practical applications of various electro-chemical, concrete repair techniques. During this time, he was involved with a variety of Universities including Queens University Belfast (QUB), Imperial College and Herriot Watt to name but a few. Brian was also involved in undertaking a demonstration project for the US Highway Authority as part of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP). This took the form of a chloride extraction project on a bridge structure in South Dakota.

Brian returned to Belfast in 2000 and set up McFarland Associates Ltd (becoming McFarland Consulting Ltd in 2020). Since then, he has steered the company into the monitoring and maintenance of structural assets through their life cycle. The Company is now accepted as being a leading force in this field and has recently commenced on an InvestNI Research & Development Grant aided project for taking its services and developments to a wider audience.

In 2016, Brian was appointed by The Royal Academy of Engineering, as a visiting Professorship of QUB.  His subject is “Managing Ageing Infrastructure and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) in Civil Engineering”.  This is in recognition of the significant expertise Brian has gained over the years in assessing, monitoring and repairing ageing infrastructure.  Brian is also Chairman of the Industrial Advisory Board of Civil Engineering at QUB.

Brian is a member of Mutual Energy Ltd which manages strategic energy assets in the long-term interests of Northern Ireland’s energy consumers. Brian has also been a Director of Northern Ireland Advanced Composites and Engineering (NIACE) Centre, looking at the use of composites in construction.