Digital Production Planning and Control Engineer for Industrialised Construction (KTP Associate)

Company description:

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

Job description:

The Role

Merit Holdings Ltd. and Newcastle University are offering an exciting opportunity to develop and implement a cutting-edge solution for enhancing production and manufacturing processes through innovative digital technologies and processes.

Merit is one of the UK's leading offsite construction specialists for technically complex and low-carbon emission buildings, and excels in providing high-quality facilities for the healthcare, pharmaceutical and bioscience sectors. Leveraging the Industrialised Construction (IC) approach, Merit has demonstrated its capability to reduce on-site construction activities and time while improving overall productivity and profitability.

You will be part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project which aims to improve the design and production processes through digitalisation and automation.

You will lead the specification and deployment of a digital solution for dynamic production planning and control. The solution will address the need for dynamic project-specific production workflows optimising resource allocation, reducing production waste, and enabling automated process control and inspection. You will digitally connect manufacturing and design processes, capture up-to-date production data and implement automated systems for production inspection, inventory tracking, and capacity planning. You will enhance production efficiency, proactively address bottlenecks and drive continuous process improvements, leveraging data from Industrial IoT devices and ML-based analytics.

Based at Merit Holdings Ltd, Cramlington, you will be supported by an interdisciplinary team from Newcastle University, led by Prof Mohamad Kassem, with expertise in digital construction and engineering, software engineering, and industrial automation and control. You will be also supported by a senior supervisor from Merit. You will interface with another KTP Associate specialising in Digital Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA) for Industrialised Construction.

Candidates should have an MEng, MSc or PhD in an engineering discipline such as Mechanical/Manufacturing, Industrial, Electrical, Mechatronics, Civil, Automation, Construction Management, or a related discipline.

Benefits:

• Develop managerial skills and attend two residential managerial workshops (each of one-week duration)
• £4,000 personal training budget
• The opportunity to lead a project, develop project management skills and improve long-term career prospects
• Mentoring by a Knowledge Transfer Network Adviser
• Full access to university resources to complete the project
• Ability to work in a largely self-determined way, across the industry-academic partnership
• Opportunities to develop both technical understanding and commercial awareness
• The possibility of studying for a higher degree or undertaking professional development

The KTP Associate will be an employee of Newcastle University but will spend most of their working time at the company's premises at 8 Silverton Court, Northumberland Business Park, Cramlington, NE23 7RY and when required at Newcastle University. Although the contract is fixed term for a duration of 2 years, more than 70% of KTP staff gain a permanent job offer by their KTP company.

For more information or informal enquiries, please contact Prof Mohamad Kassem (Mohamad.kassem@newcastle.ac.uk) and Dr John Hedley (John.Hedley@newcastle.ac.uk)

For further details on the Faculty of Science, Agriculture & Engineering please visit our web page at:
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/sage/

For further details about Knowledge Transfer Partnerships please visit the web page at:
http://www.ktp-uk.org/

The interview stage for this role is expected to take place on the week commencing 9th December, 2024.

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