Research Assistant in Digitisation of Manufacturing Processes

**Job Description**:
**Job Title**:Research Assistant in Digitisation of Manufacturing Processes

**Posting Start Date**:29/01/2025

**Job Id**:731

**School/Department**:Mechanical, Aerospace & Civil Engineerng

**Work Arrangement**:Full Time (Hybrid)

**Contract Type**:Fixed-term

**Salary per annum (£)**:£31,637 to £36,130 per annum

**Closing Date**:12/02/2025

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.

**Overview**

We are pleased to announce an exciting new opportunity to advance the state-of-the-art in digitisation of manufacturing processes. This position is focused on utilising various sensing technologies to generate in-process data that will be used to measure and monitor the manufacturing process parameters that are key to achieving successful outcomes. You will utilise knowledge of machine learning, deep learning, optimal control, and physics-based modelling.

The post will be based in the Digital Manufacturing Laboratory, led by Professor Ashutosh

Tiwari, within the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering.

**Main duties and responsibilities**
- Utilise in-process monitoring techniques employing a variety of sensing technologies to generate data that will be used to measure and monitor manufacturing process parameters.
- Utilise data processing, fusion and analytics to identify links between process data obtained from sensors and the production outcomes.
- Use existing control methods that can make use of the sensor data and the identified links to ensure successful production outcomes.
- Collaborate with the partners involved within the project on use cases and demonstrator development, and test the developed system in a real manufacturing context.
- Coordinate and liaise with other members of the research group over work progress.
- Contribute to high quality reports and progress reports to contribute to academic publications.
- Contribute to development of journal papers for high profile and respected conferences and journals at national/international level to disseminate research findings.
- Carry out administrative roles as required such as coordinating meetings across various sites.
- Participate in the general collaborative working of a team for example, to present to the group, participate in its seminar meetings, engage in its training events, and to demonstrate research to visitors etc.
- As a member of staff you will be encouraged to make ethical decisions in your role, embedding the University sustainability strategy into your working activities wherever possible.
- Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post

**Person Specification**

Essential criteria
- Technical experience in the development of hardware / software integration for demonstrators. [Assessed at: Application/Interview]
- Experience in the following skill areas:

- Operation of thermal crimping or similar welding process

(2) Use of sensor technologies for real-time data capture during thermal crimping or similar welding process
- Proficiency in any machine-learning-oriented programming languages (C/C++, Python, Java, C#, MATLAB, etc.) including relevant deep learning libraries (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Keras, etc.)
- Experience of working on a research project that focuses on an industrial use case [Assessed at: Application]
- Ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary research team. [Assessed at: Interview]
- Ability to assess and organise resources and plan and progress work activities to meet key project deadlines. [Assessed at: Interview]

Desirable criteria
- A track record of publishing high quality peer-reviewed articles.[Assessed at: Application/Interview]
- Having the tenacity to solve challenging research problems, leveraging existing knowledge, learning new skills, and developing both innovative and pragmatic solutions. [Assessed at: Application/Interview]

**Further Information**

**Grade: 6.1**

**Duration**: Fixed-term until 2nd March 2026

**Line manager**:Professor Ash Tiwari, Project Lead

For informal enquiries about this job contact

**Next steps in the recruitment process**

**Our vision and strategic plan**

We are the University of Sheffield. This is our vision: sheffield.ac.uk/vision ().

**What we offer**
- A minimum of 38**days annual leave including bank holiday and closure days (pro rata) with the ability to purchase more.
- Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some ro