Professor/Reader in Manufacturing Automation (600440)

The Department of Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management (DMEM) is an internationally leading department, Delivering Total Engineering solutions for responsible and sustainable futures. We seek to appoint a Professor/Reader in Manufacturing Automation, with the post expected to commence as soon as possible. DMEM brings together expertise in creative and engineering design, manufacturing, and engineering operations management. Our research centres and groups focus on through-life product and system development, with core themes spanning creativity and innovation, materials exploration, sustainability, and advanced technology. We are proud of our substantial and well-established collaborations with academic and industrial partners across the world. 

The need for manufacturing experts is on the rise. Are you passionate about working on global challenge and societal transitions, including manufacturing, energy, transport, space, or agri-food systems, industrial and healthcare logistics, or smart construction as it relates to manufacturing? And are you thriving on theory-driven and empirically-validated research excellence, learning and teaching with and for engineering leaders of the future? We’d love to hear from you on your research interests and ambition, particularly in Net Zero, evolving new-generation manufacturing/production systems for sustainable manufacturing, and the industrial ecology more widely. Join us, bringing both your passion for addressing societal, economic and environmental challenges, and your disciplinary expertise, particularly in future and advanced manufacturing automation.

This may include but not limited to Manufacturing Automation, and their applications to Smart Manufacturing for Sustainability, e.g., AI/Data-driven Manufacturing Processes and Control, Advanced Metrology and Inspection, Systems/Tools for in-process Quality Control, Robotic Handling for Production Systems, Autonomous Devices/Systems, Human-Machine Interfaces, Highly Resilient and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems, as well as IoT, Cloud-based, and Cybersecure Production Systems, and Digital Factory.

Manufacturing automation with its interfaces to design and engineering management across the supply chain is central to DMEM. Our focus is on ensuring strong connectivity between the engineering and product design activities and the manufacturing processes that will ultimately be used to make, and later re-make or re-manufacture the products. This work has significant implications for supply-chain configurations, and consequently, waste and emissions. Given the global challenge of climate change and the substantial impact of products and their manufacturing processes on the environment, research, knowledge exchange, education, and skills training in this field are becoming increasingly important. Opportunities in this area are expected to grow over the coming years, aligned with the global transition to a net-zero economy.

DMEM is currently well positioned in the manufacturing automation and robotics area and has successfully built a mechatronics systems lab and robotics and autonomous systems research group with applications in smart collaborative applications esp. within industrial application areas including space, health, and agri-food as it relates to manufacturing. The proposed post would complement this activity and would focus on the development of manufacturing automation strategies and methods, including smart, digital manufacturing. 

Informal enquiries about the post can be directed to Professor Anja Maier, Head of Department, (anja.maier@strath.ac.uk). To find out more about the Department visit our website: https://www.dmem.strath.ac.uk.

Interviews have been scheduled to take place on 29th & 30th January 2026.

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