AUTOREMAN will be led by scientists at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of University of Birmingham. The work will be carried out in partnership with three UK manufacturers: Caterpillar, Meritor and MG Motor. Two technology translating partners, the High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Research Institute and the Manufacturing Technology Centre, will help disseminate the project results to wider industry.
The team are looking to recruit industrial users and academic researchers to form a network for sharing information from the project and the field of remanufacturing in general. You can express interest in joining the network by emailing autoreman@contacts.bham.ac.uk
University of Birmingham
The University of Birmingham is a founder of the Russell Group of research-intensive UK universities. Established by Royal Charter in 1900, the University has been challenging and developing great minds for more than a century. Characterised by a tradition of innovation, research at the University has broken new ground, pushed forward the boundaries of knowledge and made an impact on people’s lives.
Main People:
Duc Truong Pham FREng (Principal investigator; PhD in robotic assembly; DEng in systems engineering; research experience in robotics, intelligent systems and manufacturing) is Chance Professor of Engineering and Head of Mechanical Engineering. He has been researching in robotic assembly, intelligent systems and manufacturing for over 30 years. He has published more than 500 papers and books and has attracted over £30M in research grants.
Dr Robert Cripps (Co-investigator; PhD in mathematical modelling; research experience in computational geometry) is a senior lecturer in CAD and Geometric Modelling. He has over 30 years’ experience of collaborative research in CADCAM and Computational Geometry.
Dr Mozafar Saadat (Co-investigator; PhD in manufacturing automation; research experience in modelling assembly of large aerospace components, robotic manipulation of flexible materials and holonic manufacturing system modelling and design) is a senior lecturer in manufacturing systems and industrial automation.
Dr Marco Castellani (Co-investigator; PhD in intelligent control; research experience in computational intelligence and machine vision) is a lecturer in mathematics and intelligent systems. He has nearly 20 years’ interdisciplinary research experience in engineering, biology and computer science.
Dr Khamis Essa (Co-investigator; PhD in finite-element modelling of sheet forming; research experience in modelling of manufacturing processes) is a lecturer in process modelling.
Dr Chunqian Ji
Dr Shizhong Su
Dr Yongjing Wang
Dr Jun Huang
website: www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/engineering/mechanical-engineering/index.aspx
Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
The University of Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM) is a young university, with a high teaching and research potential. It It has its main campuses located in four cities: Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo, as well as university premises in Talavera de la Reina and Almadén. It is a modern, competitive institution which more than 25.000 students, 2.400 lecturers and researchers and 1.100 administrative and services staff members. This implies having a great human capital at the institution, making it a smart option for those who wish to improve their lifelong learning and, also, for international students who chase their academic, vital or language enrichment. UCLM integrates 36 academic departments offering 45 degree qualifications, having two peculiar features: a) it is multi-disciplinary, undertaking work in practically all branches of knowledge; and b) its activities are very wide-ranging, embracing the spectrum from basic research to technological development. Moreover, UCLM possesses an important attractiveness for industry, since it is able to find opportunities to optimise their R&D options in our wide research catalogue. Promoting collaborations between industry and academia and favouring the dissemination of technological advances are part of our University's missions, demonstrating the strong commitment that UCLM has with the productive sectors of the region. The Knowledge and Technology Transfer Office is the structure within the University that strongly collaborates in this task.
Main People:
Dr. F. Javier Ramirez, BEng, MEng, PhD is Assistant Professor at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. He has been either the main researcher or collaborator in more than 120 R&D projects and contracts for public and private institutions. He has co-authored about 50 research papers in journals, specialized conferences and book chapters, and is co-inventor of 6 patents with industrial exploitation.
Dr. Teresa Olivares, BEng, MEng, PhD is Assistant Professor with the Department of Computing Systems at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. She is a member of the research group High-Performance Networks and Architectures at the Albacete Research Institute of Informatics. Her main scientific research interest includes Internet of Things (IoT) standards, protocols and communications, low-power wireless sensor networks and standards, smart environments, Industry 4.0 and Reverse Logistic.
Mrs. Celia Garrido-Hidalgo is currently a Ph.D. student at the Albacete Research Institute of Informatics, from the Advanced Communications and Computer Architectures (ACCA) research group. Her principal research fields are Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) and Internet of Things (IoT), focusing her investigation on low-power heterogeneous networks improving Supply Chain in the Industry 4.0 domain.
website: https://www.uclm.es/
Wuhan University of Technology (WUT)
Founded in 1893, the Wuhan University of Technology has existed since 2000, stemming from a merger between Wuhan Transportation University and the Wuhan Automotive Polytechnic University. As a leading Chinese higher level institution, WUT was selected as a priority under the “State 211 Project” for Chinese universities, and its Material Science and Engineering research made it into the “State 985 Project” supporting research and the internationalisation of the faculty.
Main People:
Prof Zude Zhou
Prof Quan Liu
Prof Wenjun Xu
website: http://english.whut.edu.cn/
Caterpillar
Caterpillar is the world’s largest manufacturer of heavy equipment. It has world-leading expertise in remanufacturing technologies for engines, gas turbines, locomotives and heavy industry machinery, as well as a strong commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Main People:
website: www.caterpillar.com
Meritor
Meritor is a leading global supplier of drivetrain, mobility and braking solutions. It has been providing innovative products to commercial truck, trailer, defence, specialty and aftermarket customers around the world for over 100 years. It has a strong track record in component recovery and aftermarket products through remanufacture for the global commercial vehicle and industrial markets.
Main People:
website: www.meritor.com
MG Motor
MG Motor, the manufacturer of the iconic MG cars, has a long history of sustainable engineering and expertise in robotised automobile manufacturing and mass production processes. The new range of MG models were designed and engineered at MG’s 69-acre site in Longbridge, Birmingham.
Main People:
website: www.mg.co.uk
The High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute
The High Speed Sustainable Manufacturing Institute (HSSMI) is an independent institute set up as a joint venture between industry, academia and the UK Department of Communities and Local Government for accelerating the effective use of manufacturing technology across the UK. HSSMI delivers leading-edge research and technology and looks to deploy innovative technology and new processes in all projects and programmes. This is all with the aim of improving the efficiency of UK and European manufacturers and their value chains.
Main People:
website: www.hssmi.org
The Manufacturing Technology Centre
The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. The MTC provides a platform to prove manufacturing processes and technologies in a de-risking environment. The MTC’s mission is to generate rapid and sustainable growth by delivering integrated manufacturing system solutions through a wide field of expertise.
Main People:
website: www.the-mtc.org
RecoTurbo
Reco Turbo Ltd is an independent company based in the UK who specialise in the Remanufacture of turbochargers. Reco Turbo Ltd has also been actively involved in efficient recycling concepts for many years as part of the company’s environmental sustainability strategy. The aim of the recycling process is to reclaim resources and materials contained in vehicles quickly and comprehensively in order to fill the gaps in material cycles and thus to use resources as sparingly and efficiently as possible.
website: http://recoturbo.co.uk/
SHENYANG YUANDA SCIENCE&TECHNOLOGY PARK (SYSTP)
SYSTP, supported by Yuanda China Group, is a high-tech enterprise incubation platform focusing on high-end equipment manufacturing. The group's business involves industrial robot, high-power ultrasonic application, vibration engineering application, system simulation, industrial engineering, and digitalising industrial information.
website: http://www.cnydsci.com/
Sun International Recycling Group
Sun International Recycling Group is a global recycling company that specializes in waste plastic recycling, we have the EU largest WEEE plastic recycling plant located in Corby that process up to 80,000MTs of plastic per year to finished product that supplied to manufactories like DELL, HP. Sun also have plastic recycling projects with our partners in Sweden, Germany, Canada, Dubai, etc. For servicing our global network, Sun provide a total recycling solution not only on plastic recycling technology but also separation technology from our group company in China. We have our own machinery factory as well as R&D department for the best available separation technology and supply the whole recycling system/solution for our partners and customers. Sun is going to develop an autonomous recycling industrial robot for our customers.
website: http://www.sunirg.com/
BorgWarner
BorgWarner is a leading global supplier of vehicle propulsion systems for Combustion, Hybrid and Electric vehicles and has over 60 manufacturing facilities across 18 countries within North and South America, Europe, and Asia including remanufacturing sites in the US, Mexico, Brazil, Poland and China. Our wide range of products and services are distinguished by their strong emphasis on technical innovation, continuous improvement and excellence in environmental and safety performance.
BorgWarner not only aims to be a technology leader but is also a recognised leader in remanufacturing and is the chosen partner for remanufactured products by many of the world’s leading vehicle manufacturers. Parts that are recovered through our remanufacturing processes help preserve raw materials and contribute towards a reduced carbon footprint. That is why we have a great interest in technologies that could impact positively on our core business values and we believe that automation would make a significant contribution to lowering costs and increasing resource efficiency in our remanufacturing operations.
website: https://www.borgwarner.com/home