Job Description &

Person Specification

Section 1
Role Overview

Research Assistant or Research Fellow Mechanical

Job title:
Design Engineer

Vacancy reference: 4922

Faculty/ Professional Service Unit: Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Theme: Manufacturing and Materials

Full time/Part time

Job type:
Fixed Term Contract for 18 months

Full time: 37 hours per week, normally worked Monday

to Friday. Flexible working will be considered.
Hours of work:
Part time: 18 hours per week, normally worked Monday
to Friday. Flexible working will be considered.

Research Assistant:
Salary level 4 – range £28,203 to £32,039 per annum
with potential progression to £39,586 per annum
Salary details:
Research Fellow:
Salary level 5 – range £37,337 to £41,406 per annum
with potential progression to £51,298 per annum

Dr Matt Collins, Senior Lecturer in Product Design

Line Manager:
Engineering

Start date: As soon as possible

Updated 06/08/2024
Section 2
About Cranfield University
Cranfield’s world-class expertise, large-scale facilities and unrivalled industry partnerships is
creating leaders in technology and management globally. Find out more about our unique impact,
and our vision, mission and values here.

We aim to create and maintain a culture in which everyone can work and study together and realise
their full potential. We are a Disability Confident Employer and proud members of the Stonewall
Diversity Champions Programme. We are committed to actively exploring flexible working options
for each role and have been ranked in the Top 30 family friendly employers in the UK by the charity
Working Families. Find out more about our key commitments to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
and Flexible Working here.

Section 3
About the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences
(FEAS)
Cranfield’s research and educational excellence is recognised internationally and is brought
together in the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The Faculty hosts the associated core
research and education ‘Themes’ which in turn host a number of world-class centres and institutes.
The Themes define their own research challenges and educational missions, with the Directors of
Theme working closely with the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (FEAS).

About Manufacturing and Materials

Cranfield Manufacturing and Materials has been following the ambitious strategy of developing a
roadmap for Sustainable Manufacturing and Materials Sectors for 2050 by applying fundamental
science and thought leadership via conceiving and maturing the concepts of Smart, Clean and
Green manufacturing solutions agnostically across all sectors and through all tiers of the supply
chain and with SMEs as well as OEMs. This is to support the national aspiration of Net Zero UK by
2050. Within the Theme there are a number of University and National activities for example:

 Cranfield is the lead University in the UKRI Transforming the Foundation Industries Research
and Innovation Hub (TransFIRe) http://transfire-hub.org a £10 M activity launched in July
2021 to support the journey of the cement, ceramic, chemical, metal, glass and paper
industries on their journey to net-zero.

 Materials’ Characterisation in which the University has had a programme of investment of

over £1.6 M in new facilities during 2019/2020.

 National High Temperature Surface Engineering Centre facility in the Surface Engineering
and Precision Centre which is now an associate member of the Henry Royce Institute
http://www.royce.ac.uk

The research objectives for the Theme are to:

 Build on the significant synergy between manufacturing, materials, design and management
supporting the transition from product service systems (PSS) to through life engineering
services as a contributor to high value manufacturing; and
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  Enhance our commitment to manufacturing and materials’ technologies (composites,
graphene, thermal barrier coatings, welding and laser technology and other advanced
materials) in the context of sustainable, resource-efficient manufacturing.

To meet these objectives, the main research strategies are:

 To enhance operations efficiency (smart) by researching the topics of business model

innovation, resilient supply chains and reverse logistics, remanufacturing, cloud
manufacturing, sustainability as part of manufacturing company key performance indicators
(KPI), circular economy and de-centralised manufacturing

 To enhance process efficiency (clean) by researching sensors and big data for factory
management, product service systems, factory modelling and artificial intelligence for eco-
efficiency, internet of things for traceability and authenticity, intelligent micro-factories and
autonomous manufacturing systems

 To enhance resource efficiency (green) by researching energy efficient manufacturing,

development of materials production with low carbon footprint, closed loop materials,
industrial symbiosis and circular economy, real-time life cycle analysis and advanced
materials.

Learn more about Manufacturing and Materials

Centre for Design Engineering

A community of inventors, practitioners, and educators with a growing international reputation and
track record in the field of design engineering and innovation. The community is expanding its
visibility as a cross-cutting multidisciplinary offering across Cranfield University with the aim to
develop and sustain high quality educational and industry collaboration experiences for the next
generation of professional design engineers that intend to create breakthrough clean-green
technological solutions of the future.

Learn more about the Design Engineer Community

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Organisational Chart

Helen Atkinson DBE

Deputy Vice-Chancellor - Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences
FEAS

Konstantinos Salonitis
Acting Director of Manufacturing and Materials and Head of SMSC

Leon Williams
Professor of Design-Led Innovation and Head of Centre for Design Engineering

Matt Collins
Senior Lecturer in Product Design Engineering

This vacancy

www.cranfield.ac.uk
Updated 06/08/2024
Section 4
Job Details
Job Purpose

You will be working within an established research team developing a multi-household reinvented
toilet technology. This will require a combination of responsibilities that range from design, build,
testing, maintenance, and general upkeep of a novel toilet technology. You will also be expected to
support in the commissioning of the toilet technology and data collection in compliance with the
30500 ISO standards. Applicants will be required to be comfortable with work involving discussion,
prototyping, and personally testing technologies for handling human waste. There will also be a
requirement for all team members to perform occasional out-of-hours development and field test
activities.

All members of the team will be expected to have a strong design engineering competency to
undertake maintenance, repair, and overhaul changes to the system, as and when required. Field
testing will be undertaken at Cranfield University-UK and two other international user test sites (e.g.,
India and South Africa) of which you will be visit and support in the commissioning, setup, and testing
procedures.

Key Deliverables

% of
Description of Deliverables
time

Research & Development

Develop sub-system components and suitable test rigs.
Run analyses and tests using specified and agreed techniques and models.
Acquire and interpret research data and results.
Prioritise tasks within agreed work schedule.
Contribute to the development of techniques, models, and data collection
methods to create quality R&D journal papers.
Authoring and submission of academic journal articles to high quality journals
1 for publication and dissemination. 85

Supporting line manager on future bid writing.

Plan and carry out the work programme for own research contribution, using
methodology and techniques appropriate to this type of research. e.g.
 investigations leading to the discovery of new knowledge,
 analyzing and illuminating data, interpreting, and bringing new insights
through integration,
 application of knowledge in practice out of which new intellectual
understanding emerges.
Plan and produce independent original research.

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 Investigate models and approaches to test and develop them.
Additionally for Research Fellow
Develop and carry out a plan to open up an area of personal research and
expertise or contribute as a research team member to a broader programme.
This is likely to include writing bids for research grants.

Supervision and Teaching

Undertake supervision of research students, as agreed with the line manager.
Additionally for Research Fellow
Teach courses and advise students within own subject area, predominantly
through lectures and seminars for groups of undergraduates or
2 postgraduates. 10
Supervise practical work where it is part of the course and advise students on
techniques.
Plan and review own approach to teaching and contribute to the design or
revision of course units.
Set and mark coursework and exams, and advise students on their progress.

General
Advise other staff and students within area of expertise.
Contribute to activities as requested by line manager, that are within the remit
of the role, the grant, and the associated grade.
Ensure that Environmental, Health and Safety policies are adhered to as
3 required by the Faculty and University. 5
Additionally for Research Fellow
Take responsibility for organising resources and effective decision making in
support of research and teaching.
Support colleagues in research, student supervision, teaching and grant
proposal writing.

Please be advised that the percentages allocated for the key deliverables may be adapted to take
into account the needs of the Faculty and / or University.

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Section 5
Am I suited to this role?

Criteria Essential Desirable

Master’s or Doctoral Level qualification Degree related to technology
or Equivalent (or close to completion) development.
in Design, Engineering, Chemical
Education / Engineering, Energy and Power,
Treatment Processing, or Mechatronics
Qualifications
related disciplines, or the equivalent in
professional qualifications and
experience.

Experienced researcher in design, Track record of winning and

build and testing of sanitation delivering research projects
technologies. sponsored by both the public
and private sectors.
Awareness of ISO:30500 test protocols
and test methods. Experience of teaching at
graduate or postgraduate
High level analytical capability. level.
Experience
Experience in project management - Experience of supervising
including preparing, editing, and PhD students.
submitting high quality research
Experience of managing
outputs.
projects.
Peer-reviewed publication track record. Presentation at major national
or international conferences.

Sound knowledge of toilet Knowledge of Health and

technologies. Safety Legislation as it relates
to the role.
Knowledge of recent research
developments in the design Understanding of and
engineering field developing toilet contribution to broader
Knowledge technologies. university management
processes.
Practical knowledge of the design
engineering software. Knowledge of academic
standards in UK higher
education sector.

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 Excellent project and time Skills in motivating colleagues
management skills, ensuring that and students.
milestones and deliverables are
achieved to time and to high quality. Proven ability to develop
business opportunities and
Superb oral and written communication attract research income from
skills and presentation skills, and good multiple types of clients.
technical writing skills in English.

Excellent team-working and inter-

Skills / Aptitudes personal skills.

Proven ability to undertake original

research.

Ability and “drive” to produce high

quality manuscripts, with others.

Ability to find appropriate solutions to

academic and technical problems.
Ability to demonstrate our values:
Ambition, Impact, Respect and
Values
Community.

Due to the requirement to travel Experience of commissioning

internationally you should have no and testing sanitation systems
Other in international locations.
travel restrictions on your passport.

www.cranfield.ac.uk
Updated 06/08/2024