Kenneth Leitch

Dr Kenneth Leitch is an Associate Professor at the School of Computing Engineering and the Built Environment, Edinburgh Napier University. He serves as Principal Investigator for the Scottish Government-funded Housing Construction and Infrastructure (HCI) Skills Gateway, an 8-year £6M initiative creating learning pathways for construction careers.

• Leader of the University’s Graduate Apprentice programme
• Member of Joint Board of Moderators (JBM)
• Contributor to Edinburgh City Region Deal’s IRES Programme Board
• Collaborator in international partnerships (Shanghai, Myanmar, Europe)

His research focuses on timber engineering, pedagogy, and employability in construction education. Recent work explores digital twin frameworks for residential developments and pedagogical attributes affecting teaching quality. He supervises PhD candidates Astrid Bagireanu and Niaz Gharavi.

Scientific contributions:

• Developed racking calculation software for timber structures
• Authored guidelines for offsite timber construction
• Investigated dowel-type connections for timber-concrete systems

Awards:

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
• Voted 'Best Lecturer' by Edinburgh Napier Student Association