Staff
Staff
Prof Ashutosh Tiwari
Airbus / RAEng Research Chair in Digitisation for Manufacturing
Deputy Vice-President for Innovation
Is currently the Deputy VicePresident for Innovation of The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K., and holds the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering (R.A.Eng.) and an Airbus Research Chair. He is internationally renowned for research in digital manufacturing and works in partnership with industry to develop new techniques and solutions for digitalisation, instrumentation, in-process monitoring, and real-time simulation of skill-intensive manufacturing processes. He has a strong track record of leading research and innovation projects across technology readiness levels, and serves on the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Strategic Advisory Team for Manufacturing and the Circular Economy. He is the Deputy Director of the EPSRC Future Electrical Machines Manufacturing Hub, Sheffield Lead of the Made Smarter Research Centre for Connected Factories, Sheffield, and was awarded an EPSRC High-Value Manufacturing Catapult Fellowship. He is passionate about training people for manufacturing research and has graduated 38 Ph.D. students
Mr Windo Hutabarat
Research Associate
Is a Research Associate in Digitalisation of Manufacturing Processes at the University of Sheffield, working within the RAEng/Airbus Research Chair in Digital Manufacturing. His research applies AI, robotics, and digital technologies to transform aerospace and advanced manufacturing. He leads and contributes to major research programs including ATI DELTA, ATI LANDOne, EPSRC CoAIMS, EPSRC RESCuM2, EPSRC STAMAN, and Made Smarter Connected Factories. His work spans intelligent drilling analytics for aerospace materials, landing gear assembly optimization, reconfigurable robotics, and circular economy applications. He has successfully won five Innovate UK projects and holds patents in aerospace manufacturing technologies. With over 2,100 citations, his research consistently bridges academic innovation with industrial deployment. He collaborates closely with Airbus, Siemens, and other industry partners to deliver practical manufacturing solutions.
Dr Divya Tiwari
Research Associate
Received the B.Eng. degree (Hons.) in electronics and communication from the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, India, in 2002 and the Ph.D. degree from Cranfield University, Bedford, U.K., in 2010. Before joining academia, she worked in the electronics industry on aerospace and automotive applications in U.K. She is currently a Research Fellow with the Digitisation Laboratory for Manufacturing, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K. Her work focuses on sensors and simulation for high-value manufacturing processes. Dr. Tiwari was awarded the Daphne Jackson and Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship in 2013.
Dr Michael Farnsworth
Research Associate
Received the degree in biochemistry with molecular biology from Cardiff University in 2004, the M.Sc. degree in computer science from the University of the West of England in 2007, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science from Cranfield University in 2013. He is currently a Research Associate with the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, The University of Sheffield, and a Research Lead with the EPSRC Future Electrical Machines Manufacturing Hub. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles. His research interests cover the field of digital manufacturing and the application of machine learning and bioinspired artificial intelligence. His interests also include understanding how evolutionary processes can be used to develop systems of general intelligence that are able to tackle hard problems within the field of manufacturing and robotics. He is a Chartered Scientist and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Authority and a member of IET.
Dr Ze Zhang
Research Associate
Received the B.Sc. degree from Jiangnan University in 2012 and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electronic and electrical engineering from The University of Sheffield in 2018 and in 2024, respectively. Before his research career, he was with electric power industry after graduating the B.Sc. degree. He is currently a Research Associate with the Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, The University of Sheffield, and Airbus on industrial applications. He is a Research Theme Lead with the EPSRC Made Smarter Innovation–Research Centre for Connected Factories. His main research interests are AI, sensor fusion, computer vision for digital manufacturing, and manufacturing robot systems.
Dr Yuri Mejía Melgarrejo
Research Associate
Received a PhD in Electronic Engineering from the Industrial University of Santander, Colombia, with research focused on optimising compressive sensor systems. She is currently a Research Associate at the University of Sheffield, specialising in the digitalisation of manufacturing processes. Her work covers in-process monitoring, real-time simulation, and the integration of sustainability and circular economy principles into advanced manufacturing systems.
She is actively involved with the Digital Design Network+ and MADE4CDT, contributing to interdisciplinary research and skills development in digital and advanced manufacturing. She has contributed to major research initiatives, including ATI projects DELTA, DAWN, and IntegRATE 1, and EPSRC-funded projects Circular 4.0 and DECHI. Her work spans data analytics, monitoring algorithms, digital manufacturing systems, sustainable manufacturing strategies, time-series data analysis, failure-mode modelling, and simulation models for the circular economy and manufacturing performance evaluation, with a focus on efficiency and quality in aerostructures and high-rate production.
She is committed to advancing sustainability in manufacturing through cutting-edge technologies, data-driven methodologies, and collaborative innovation.
Dr Néstor Eduardo Sánchez Arriaga
Research Associate
Received the B.Eng. degree (Hons.) in electronics from the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas, UAMR-Rodhe, Reynosa, Mexico, in 2007, the master’s degree in IT management from the Universidad TecMilenio, Reynosa, Mexico, in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree in automatic control and systems engineering from The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K., in 2025. He is a Research Associate with The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, U.K., focusing on novel nano characterization techniques and integration of optoelectronics systems for thin-film applications. Before joining academia, he worked in engineering and leadership roles in manufacturing and product development for global telecommunications companies.
Dr Yue Zang
Research Assistant
Received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees in mechanical engineering from the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan,
China, in 2018 and 2021, respectively. and the Ph.D. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K. His early research focused on CNC straightening systems and robotic welding automation. His current work explores AI-driven robotic disassembly, with a particular focus on eveloping
intelligent systems for flexible disassembly. He was the recipient of the School of Engineering Scholarship and a corporate grant to support his research on battery disassembly lines for electric vehicles.
University of Sheffield staff profile
Yue Yao
Research Assistant
Received the M.Sc. degree in robotics from The University of Sheffield in 2022. Before embarking on his research career, he gained invaluable industry experience as a Robotics Engineer with the energy sector. Currently, he is a Research Assistant with the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, The University of Sheffield. In this role, he actively contributes to cutting-edge research projects, with a specific focus on robotics and sensing in digital manufacturing, particularly in the context of assembly systems. He is interested in robotics, assembly systems, digital twin and sensing for robots, and digital manufacturing. He received the Nicholson Prize for master's studies.
Fazair Nizar Siraj
Research Assistant
Received the MSc degree in Robotics from the University of Sheffield in 2023, where he was awarded the Nicholson Prize for his outstanding performance. He completed his undergraduate studies in Mechatronics Engineering, developing a strong foundation in mechanical design, electronics and control systems. Currently, he is a Research Assistant with the University of Sheffield, contributing to the development of advanced manufacturing systems. His current research focuses on the design and prototyping of sensor-assisted parallel manipulators for large-scale, high precision assembly applications, integrating mechanical design, electronic systems, and control methodologies. His research interests include robotic systems for machining and assembly, digital manufacturing, and intelligent automation.
Alex Herdea
Research Assistant
My research focuses on the digitalisation of manufacturing processes that rely heavily on human labour, with particular emphasis on integrating visual and thermal cameras for in-process quality inspection using AI models. This work aims to enhance automation, improve defect detection, and support the transition toward intelligent manufacturing systems.
PhD Students
PhD Students
David Miller
Phd Student
David is a PhD student in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace & Civil Engineering, where he specialises in data science and image processing. He obtained a Master's in Mechatronics & Robotics, and is currently conducting PhD research focusing on decentralised systems for sharing product information.
Toby Miles
Phd Student
Contact: tmiles2@sheffield.ac.uk
Yefan Xie
PhD Student
Contact: yxie81@sheffield.ac.uk
Paul K. Roberts
Phd Student
Contact: pkroberts1@sheffield.ac.uk
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