PhD Studentship: MTC-UOB PhD Scholarship - Robotised Health Triage of End-of-life Products for Value Retention in the Circular Economy

This project is an exciting opportunity to undertake industrially linked research in partnership with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). It is based within the School of Engineering, University of Birmingham.

This is 3-year fully funded studentship and is only open to UK home students. The successful applicant will receive a generous tax-free annual stipend of £25,500 plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees. Additionally, £2,000 per annum is provided for consumables, travel, etc. Due to funding restrictions this PhD position is only available to UK nationals. As this position is sponsored by the MTC, any successful candidate would need to pass the sponsors own security checks prior to the commencement of the PhD.

The PhD Project

In the current circular economy (CE) landscape, too often, items that could be repaired, reused, or remanufactured, are instead end up in mixed waste streams for recycling, which is the least valuable end-of-life CE option. This leads to a substantial loss of residual value. This project addresses a new concept, circularity triage, referring to the process of examining end-of-life products to determine their best CE option, e.g. reuse, repair, remanufacture, repurpose, or recycle. This concept is inspired by the triage system in medical practices, referring to a process by which care providers sort patients based on their conditions. Similar to how triage can help create priorities and organisations in healthcare systems, we aim to create and develop robotic systems that can perform circularity triage tasks in the context of the circular economy.

Who we are looking for

• A first or upper-second-class degree in an appropriate discipline such as, Mechanical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Control Engineering and Data Science
• A driven individual with an inquisitive mind
• Ability to produce high-quality presentations and written reports

The MTC is an independent Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) aimed at de-risking and accelerating the adoption of disruptive technologies within the UK manufacturing sphere. Supported by the UK government, the MTC works closely with industrial partners and other research organisations to deliver world leading innovation across all levels of the UK’s industrial landscape, from SMEs and start-ups to OEMs and large-scale global manufacturers. For more information please visit the MTC website.

As a researcher at Birmingham, you will benefit from working in an environment in which excellence and innovation are made possible by brilliant people, outstanding facilities and strong collaborative networks. You will be joining a global top 100 university tackling some of the biggest issues the world faces, making a difference to people's lives on a daily basis. Within this nurturing academic community, you will be able to contribute to shaping and changing lives. The University Graduate School supports Birmingham’s postgraduate researcher (PGR) and postgraduate taught (PGT) community. We foster an interdisciplinary community and act as a gateway to support and advice to ensure that our postgraduates have access to a high quality postgraduate experience.

Contact

Informal inquiries, with a detailed CV and academic transcripts, should be sent to Dr Yongjing Wang y.wang@bham.ac.uk and Karol Janik karol.janik@the-mtc.org.

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