IfM News

September is a month packed full of interesting events. Across the IfM, a range of exciting courses and conferences are being organised, aimed at a wide range of audiences from industry, academia and government. Over 350 delegates are expected, coming from more than 20 countries.

July 2014No 199

Focus on: Conference Season

Second International Conference on Abrasive Processes (ICAP-2014)Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 SeptemberOrganised by Ian Hutchings (IRC) and John Williams from the Department of Engineering, ICAP-2014 will bring together tribologists specialising in wear and applied scientists and manufacturing engineers with an interest in abrasive processes such as polishing and CMP, abrasive flow machining, abrasive water jet cutting, etc. The themes of ICAP-2014 will be the degradation of engineering surfaces, both monolithic and coated, by interactions with hard particles through both abrasion and erosion and the exploitation of these processes in the manufacture of engineering components.Keynote speakers include Jan Spelt, Professor of Mechanics of Materials and Manufacturing Processes in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto; and Eckart Uhlmann, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology and Chair of Machine Tools and Manufacturing Technology at TU Berlin.More information: www-icap.eng.cam.ac.uk

The 18th Annual Cambridge International Manufacturing Symposium

Capturing value from global networks: implications for manufacturing, supply chains and industrial policyThursday 11 to Friday 12 SeptemberThe 2014 CIM symposium led by Jag Srai and Tomas Harrington will examine the key areas of CIM’s report: “Capturing value from global networks – strategic approaches to designing international production, supply and service operations” launched in April, and the implications for manufacturing, supply networks and corporate policy in the 21st century. Special tracks will also be featured on areas such as risk, re-shoring, continuous processing, sustainable supply networks, e-commerce and last mile logistics, service supply networks, industry emergence and transformation, dynamic capabilities and emerging country multi-nationals.There will be speakers from Grundfos, Caterpillar, Sanofi-Genzyme, Unilever and Tata Consultancy Services.More information: www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/events/cimsymposium14

Colleagues enjoying a buffet lunch to celebrate Derek Ford’s retirement on 25 July

Delivering Impact - knowledge into actionTuesday 16 to Wednesday 17 SeptemberThe 3rd Annual Sustainability conference organised by CIS will focus on putting knowledge into action to deliver a real impact. Participants will hear how leading companies have made effective sustainable changes, learn from case studies about the practical applications of sustainability research in businesses and gain insights into the impact on the future of sustainable manufacturing from the Internet of Things and growing new materials through crystallisation.Firms which will be speaking at the conference led by Steve Evans include Toyota, William Jackson Foods, M&S, Extremis Technology and Unilever Airbus among others.More information: www.industrialsustainability.org/news-events/annual-conference-2014/

Future of Services in a Digital Age (Cambridge Service Week)Tuesday 30 SeptemberAs part of Cambridge Service Week, the CSA is holding a one-day conference which aims to provide insights from leading service providers and academic institutions and offers a chance to hear the latest developments in service thinking.The conference hosted by Andy Neely provides a unique opportunity to share practical experience and knowledge about the future of services in a digital age, bringing together international industry leaders from diverse sectors, running organisations that are making the shift to services.Speakers will focus on the future of services in a digital age, offering views and perspectives on the role data, technology and the internet of things will play in the years to come. These include: Stefan Bungart, Europe Software & Analytics COE Leader for GE Global Research; Ed Bainbridge, former VP Digital Experiences at Disney Interactive EMEA and now Director of Digitally Connected Creative Experiences at Screen Twist; and Felex von Reischach, Head of Mobile Innovation - Middle and Eastern Europe, SAP Switzerland Inc.For more information and booking visit this link:www.cambridgeservicealliance.org/events/serviceweek2014.html

CoursesThe Cambridge Tribology Course: Friction, Wear and LubricationMonday 15 to Wednesday 17 SeptemberA three-day programme, organised by Ian Hutchings and John Williams (Engineering) offering an excellent opportunity to gain an overview of the field of tribology. Lectures, combined with informal discussion periods and a workshop session cover the key elements of the subject.www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/events/tribology2014/

Realising the Potential of Early Stage TechnologiesTuesday 23 to Wednesday 24 SeptemberOrganised by CTM, this workshop covers the fundamental issues associated with the management of early stage technology and innovation. Topics include discussion around the key challenges and issues associated with early stage technological innovation, how to identify opportunities, risk management and techniques for valuation.www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/events/realising-the-potential-of-early-stage-technologies/

Steve Evans to help MPs look into UK’s remanufacturing potentialSteve Evans was asked to be part of the Steering Group of the All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group (APMG) and All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group (APSRG) inquiry into the potential for remanufacturing in the UK. The inquiry which follows on from the APSRG report Remanufacturing: Towards a Resource Efficient Economy will be co-chaired by Barry Sheerman MP and Caroline Spelman MP. Steve was also recently elected a

Fellow of the the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce). www.thersa.org

Tariq Masood joins the University Researcher Development CommitteeTariq Masood has recently been invited to become a member of the University Researcher Development Committee. The committee is responsible for the strategic direction of researchers’ development (Post-docs and PhD students) and for the allocation of £1.6m across the

university. Tariq attended the committee’s meeting on 4 July, where he also presented a paper on the newly formed Departmental Postdoc Committee Chairs Network that he chairs.

Design PhD student wins US innovation award

Wei Liu, a second year PhD student supervised by James Moultrie (DMG) was selected to attend an event held by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA). The PDMA-UIC Innovation Doctoral Consortium was held in Chicago (USA) between 18-20 July. Wei presented her research in two rounds to over 30 senior scholars, editors and managers from industry, and won the ‘Overall Winner’ Prize of the Dissertation Competition Award. The prize included $2500 and an invitation to present her study at the Annual PDMA Research Forum 2014 held in October in Denver (USA).

Laser PhD student wins Best Young Researcher Presentation awardTianqi Dong (CIP), who started working on her PhD this February under the supervision of Bill O’Neill, was awarded the Roger Kelly Award for Best Young Researcher

Presentation after coming third place at the 4th International School on Lasers in Materials Science (SLIMS), held in Venice, Italy between 13-20 July.The 10 minute presentation was

entitled “Femtosecond laser direct micro-cutting of graphene for device applications” and was aimed at a scientific and professional audience.Tianqi believes it was the First Year PhD Students’ Conference held in May, where she was awarded joint second place allowed her to gain the experience and confidence to compete at international level.

PhD student wins first WCE Leete Premium AwardCIP duo Jon Parkins and Bill O’Neill attended the Worshipful Company of Engineers’ annual awards dinner on Tuesday 15 July at Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, where Jon was awarded the first WCE Leete Premium Award for production engineering. This award is funded according to the wishes of late Liveryman Dr David Leete and is an annual award for IfM students.

Jon Parkins (centre) alongside the Master Engineer John Baxter FREng FRSE (left) and the Principal Guest Professor Colin Bailey, Vice-President and Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of Manchester (right).

METs investigate offshoring opportunities in Singapore and MalaysiaThe MET IIB Overseas Research Project has just returned from Singapore and Malaysia. A party of 19 students visited a total of 14 companies throughout Singapore, Johor Bahru, Penang and Kuala Lumpur over two weeks to investigate opportunities for UK businesses to outsource operations there. The visit covered a wide range of companies, from SMEs to Multinationals, government agencies and universities giving students a great deal of local insight and knowledge to support the desk-based research they had already carried out. Now that all of

the information has been gathered, the students will compile a report into the topic which will be released in the coming months. All the students involved would like to thank everyone within the IfM who helped make this trip so successful in terms of contacts and advice as well as the many companies who have sponsored the trip so generously.

Business Model Innovation grid based on IfM research launchedPlan C, the Flemish network for sustainable management of materials, has just launched a Business Model Innovation Grid on a paper by CIS researchers Nancy Bocken, Sam Short, Padmakshi Rana, and Steve Evans: ‘A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes’. The grid aims to inspire businesses to reconceive how they operate and to become more future proof and is structured around the eight business model archetypes, currently including 100 business cases.

IfM rower wins blades at May BumpsTorben Jess (DIAL) received “blades” for rowing and bumping four times at the university May Bumps this year. Bumps are big annual rowing events held twice a year in Cambridge. Given the lack of space on the Cam, bumps work in a way that all crews are lined up behind each other based on past performances, then try to chase each other and hit the boat in front of them before they are caught by the crew behind. Bumps run over 4 days, giving every team the chance to bump (or be bumped) four times. Blades are achieved when a team is good enough to bump on every day.

Torben with his crew

Wei (second from right) receives her award

ECS works with Yucatan government on its industrial development strategy

ECS is involved in a collaboration project to help the government of the state of Yucatan, Mexico develop their industrial development strategy. The aim is to uncover strategic options for industrial growth, job creation, and improvement of the state’s competitiveness as a manufacturing location. ECS is supporting the development of this strategy by facilitating a collaborative process between government, industry and academia.Mike Gregory visited Yucatan and met Governor Rolando Zapata

Bello to discuss the collaboration details. The meeting was also attended by Carlos López Gómez, Research Associate as well as David Leal-Ayala, Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and Ricardo González Nakazawa, ECS collaborator.During his visit, Mike also held a talk aimed at industrialists in which he addressed the patterns of change in the manufacturing industry around the world and highlighted the importance of academia-industry collaboration.

Chelmer Valley pays annual visit to IfMA group of 14 and 15-year-old students from Chelmer Valley High

School visited the IfM on 8 July to learn more about what engineers do. The students attended a talk by Tim Minshall on “what engineers

really do”, then had a go at the “JIT game”, led by Derek Ford, in which participants apply elements of Just-In-Time manufacturing to better understand this management philosophy. The programme also included a punting trip along the river Cam.The Chelmsford-based college specialises in engineering and leadership, and pays a yearly visit to the IfM to expose its student to a real-life engineering environment, as part of the Department of Engineering’s School and Communities Outreach external link programme.

Simple inventions that could change the world A group of students who showcased their project work at the annual MET Design Show have seen their product make it in a list of “11 Simple Inventions That Could Change The World” published by the Huffington Post. The Infinity Oven, a low cost and sustainable smoke-free solar oven, was mentioned as “A smokeless solar cooker for developing countries” which solves the problem: “Cooking in the developing world often requires large amounts of costly fuel and creates harmful smoke as a byproduct.”

Videos of Design Show products are available to view on the IfM YouTube page: www.youtube.com/user/ifmcambridge/videos

Cycling veteran Ken Platts is not stopped by mere injury

Five times winner of the British Veterans Best All-Rounder title, Ken Platts has had a long and successful cycling career. While riding the recent Eastern Counties 100-mile time trial championship, he crashed after hitting a defective manhole cover. Not to be deterred he got back on his bike as soon as he could and finished the race, breaking the National UK age-group 100-mile record by four and a half minutes.Only when he got off the bike did he realise that the injury was rather more serious than he had thought - a trip to

Addenbrookes revealing that he had broken six ribs, and his pelvis in three places- necessitating a five day stay in hospital.Ken commented: “People hearing the story think I was mad to finish the race, but when racing the effect of adrenaline masks the pain somewhat, and you don’t realise how badly injured you are. I knew I was on track to beat the old record by over 10 minutes, so I was highly motivated to finish. The crash was annoying, a 10 minute beating of the record would have probably put it out of reach for a considerable time,as it is I’ll probably have to have another go next year!”Ken is currently working from home, giving his bones the right time to heal, and hopes to be able to get back on his bike within three months.

From left: Governor Rolando Zapata Bello, Ricardo González Nakazawa, Mike Gregory, Carlos López Gómez and David Leal-Ayala

July babies

Craig Smith and Catherine welcomed to the world little Kaitlin Anna Joy Smith on 13 July, weighing 7lb 11oz.

Rebecca Meagor, Nik and their son Jack are now a family of four with the addition of brand new baby Blake Nicholas, born on 4 July weighing in at 9lb 6oz.

The IfM’s research skills will be a key component of a new specialist centre dedicated to finding ways to help businesses improve efficiency in manufacturing. The Centre for Resource Efficient Manufacturing Systems (REMS) has been set up as a collaborative partnership which combines the research skills of the IfM, the research and business-facing expertise of Teesside University and the manufacturing innovation abilities of the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI). Based at Teesside University, it will research and investigate manufacturing processes and supply chains to help companies improve production processes by reducing emissions, saving time, reducing cost and minimising the resources they use. Mike Gregory and Steve Evans are on the steering group of the REMS centre.

IfMers for charityRaising funds to increase local cancer care centre capacitySome colleagues may be aware that in late 2012, John McManus’ wife was diagnosed with cancer. Throughout 2013 she received treatment at Addenbrookes and at the Woodlands Cancer Care Centre at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon and is now thankfully recovering well. In order to increase the local cancer care capacity and reduce the load on Addenbrookes, it is planned to double the capacity at the Woodlands Centre, and as part of the fundraising effort a large cycling event was held in June. John had originally intended to ride in the event along with Alan Cousens, but unfortunately his recent motorbike accident prevented him from taking part.Instead, his son Daniel will ride the 60 mile course on 8th August in his place, accompanied by Alan. They would be grateful for any sponsorship support you may be able to provide. If you feel you can help, please visit this page: www.justgiving.com/John-McManus4

A running charity to help the communityElliott Moore is trying to set up a running club that does good for its members and the community. GoodGym is a non-profit organisation that connects groups of individuals with physical tasks that benefit their community and keep them fit by either running in a pack to work on a community project, launching a one off mission to help the vulnerable or by visiting an isolated older person. Runners get the help and support of a qualified trainer to achieve their goals.More information at www.goodgym.orgWhilst looking for funding, an organisation offered to multiply any funding raised 5x. Elliott and his co-founder have a target of £1000 to get GoodGym off the ground with the 5x matched funding. If you want to help them, please donate here: fundrazr.com/campaigns/2p2Q7/em/b3kdm1Yip runs in Race for LifeMan Hang Yip has just completed the UK Cancer Research 5k Race for Life, held on Sunday 20 July, with a group of other PhD students from Christ’s College. The fundraising is still open, so if you would like to donate you can do so here: www.justgiving.com/cambridgecocoachicks/

From left to right: Dr. David Adams of Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; Moyra Lawrence and Daniela Robles Espinoza from Christ’s College, and Yip.

IfM has key role in new manufacturing research centre

Caption competitionNick Mann is the winner of last month’s caption competition:“Mike has just been told his application to build a floating eco-pub has been approved.”

Photo: From left, Mangesh Gharfalkar, Dr Graham Hillier, Dr Richard Court and Callum Campbell

John “cycling” at last year’s University Environment and Energy Roadshow

Welcome to July’s new startersJessica Tennant is the Office and Communities Manager of ideaSpace West. Jessica graduated from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge with a BA Hons degree in Film and Media in 2010. Since finishing University she has worked in events, been a client relationship manager and has dabbled in some freelance illustrational work. Xiaofeng Liu (Michael) has joined the CSA as a visitor for three

months as part of Project EC-HVEN, a collaboration between the University of Cambridge and the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT).

He works in the Research Centre on Intelligent Computing for the Enterprises and Services (ICES), School of Computer Science and Technology, HIT, China . His main research interests are cross-organizational business process modeling and enterprise interoperability.Cristina Rodriguez Rivero joined the IRC in June; her work is focused on aerodynamic effects in inkjet applications. She is about to complete her PhD at the University of Salamanca (Spain), where her studies dealt with the production of micro-particles using jet breakup techniques and other closely related areas such as polymeric fluids rheology and Computational Fluid Dynamics of multiphasic systems.Martyna Sikora joined DIAL in July as a visiting student. She is

currently a third year undergraduate student at the Queen Mary University in London where she is studying mathematics. Due to her excellent

results, Martyna was granted the Cambridge Long Vacation Scholarship. During her four week visit she will be working with Torben Jess on valuing information using prediction markets.

Retirement time for DerekAfter over 12 years at the IfM, Derek Ford has retired – although he will continue work with ECS on a limited basis working with SME member companies. In the next issue of the newsletter, we will be looking back at Derek’s work while we look forward to Karen Smith’s era. Coming from the University College London, Karen is due to start in September.Manjusha continues her research in the Aussie sun

Manjusha Thorpe from MIERG received her PhD at a graduation ceremony held on Saturday 19 July. After nearly four years at the IfM, she will be heading to Australia in August and is planning to continue her research on enabling the

scale-up and commercialisation of new manufacturing technologies. Manjusha feels fortunate to have established so many valuable relationships with members of the IfM and is looking forward to maintaining these. She sends her best wishes to those she could not say farewell to and wishes everyone the best. She can always be contacted using manjusha.thorpe@cantab.netSamir Doshi leaves the Alan Reece Building for the White HouseSamir Doshi, a lead researcher at the CIS, has recently accepted a position in the United States as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the White House and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) starting this September. He will be working as a Senior Advisor to the newly launched Global Development Lab, a $1Bn international network of 30 institutions and agencies across the academic, public and private sectors that was created by Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Raj Shah and others (www.usaid.gov/GlobalDevLab/). The lab’s mission is to advance sustainable development and eliminate extreme poverty through a crowd-funded and crowd-sourced approach. He will be charged as being a ‘network catalyst’ to incorporate concepts of complex systems science, sustainability and resilience across the GDL with a focus on linking with the academic institutions and advancing R&D on ICT solutions for development.

Derek is gifted with a book full of wishes from his colleagues; and in the image below, he enjoys the buffet lunch held for him in the garden.

HELLO... ...and GOODBYE

Recent publicationsUK-India Manufacturing Policy Roundtable summary reportThe UK-India Manufacturing Policy Roundtable, organised by the IfM and UK Science and Innovation Network (SIN), was held in April in New Delhi, India. Its aim was to bring together senior government, agency and industrial representatives from the UK and India to build closer links between the two countries in the areas of industrial strategies, manufacturing futures and innovation.The summary report has now been made available and can be found here:www.ifm.eng.cam.ac.uk/uploads/Resources/UK-India_Manufacturing_Round_Table_Summary_Report__9th_April_2014.pdfOther publicationsAkram, M.S., Daly, R., Vasconcellos, F.C., Yetisen, A.K., Hutchings, I., Hall, E.A.H. “Applications of Paper-Based Diagnostics” in Lab-on-a-Chip Devices and Micro-Total Analysis Systems. Eds. Castillo-Leon, J., Svendsen, W. E. Springer (2014Charmet, J., Daly, R., Thiruvenkatanathan, P., Woodhouse, J., Seshia, A. “Observations of modal interaction in lateral bulk acoustic resonators”, Applied Physics Letters, 105, 013502 (2014).Masood, T, Roy, R, Harrison, A, Xu, Y, Gregson, S, and Reeve, C (2014): Integrating through-life engineering service knowledge with product design and manufacture, International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, DOI: 10.1080/0951192X.2014.900858Litos L., Evans S., 2014. Tool-kit development to facilitate decision making on eco-efficiency in manufacturing – insights from its application in production, in: Proceedings of the ECEEE 2014 Industrial Summer Study: Retool for a competitive and sustainable industry, Papendal, Arnhem, the Netherlands, 02 – 05 June 2014

Here is a selection of our latest media coverage:Expert solutions: How do we make experience count but size not matter?Jag Srai explains how “network-based manufacturing” can help companies of any size compete in today’s global business environment.Trade RadarPrint

Working with academia to educate future engineersOmron talks about its ongoing collaboration with the IfM on MET and ISMM courses to keep engineering students up to date in the fast paced world of controls, drives and automation.Automation, Process and Control Today and other publicationswww.pandct.com/media/shownews.asp?ID=41183

Harlow Council launches manufacturing and engineering forum to promote growthHarlow Group will speak at a newly-launched forum about how the IfM helped them improve their processes and reach new markets through the Essex Innovation ProgrammeHarlow Starwww.harlowstar.co.uk/News/Harlow-news/Harlow-Council-launches-manufacturing-and-engineering-forum-to-promote-growth-20140730140921.htm

Implications of open innovation trends for HRThe article uses IfM research on open innovation which found that of the company groups most important for OI, HR is the least valued.HR magazinewww.hrmagazine.co.uk/hr/features/1145489/implications-innovation-trends-hr?WT.rss_f=Learning+and+development&WT.rss_a=Implications+of+open+innovation+trends+for+HR

Read all about it: IfM in the news