Leroy Gardner is Professor of Structural Engineering at Imperial College London and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. Prof. Gardner is engaged in teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, industry training, specialist advisory work and leading an active research group in structural engineering.

Prof. Gardner’s principal research interests, in respect of which he has co-authored 4 textbooks, 7 book chapters and over 400 technical papers, lie in the areas of structural testing, numerical modelling and the development of design methods for steel structures. He is Editor-in-Chief of two international journals and serves on the Editorial boards of five others. He chairs a number of IStructE and BSI committees, is the UK National Representative on the European Working Group for the structural steel design standard EN 1993-1-1, and is a Fellow of both the Institutions of Civil (FICE) and Structural Engineers (FIStructE). Prof. Gardner was awarded the IABSE prize in 2017 and the ASCE Shortridge Hardesty prize in 2021.

The Steel Structures Group comprises about 20 doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working on a range of topics relating to the manufacture, testing, simulation and design of steel structures. Active topics include metal additive manufacturing (3D printing), design by advanced analysis, stainless steel, high strength steel, cold-formed steel and aluminium alloy structures. The Steel Structures Group was awarded the 2024 Imperial President's Excellent Research Team Prize in 2024.