Ultra-precision engineering – from physics to manufacturing

• Professor Xiang Jane Jiang, University of Huddersfield, UK
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor Jane Jiang holds the Chair of Precision Metrology and Chief Scientist at the Centre for Precision Technologies, University of Huddersfield. She has a PhD in Surface Measurement Science and a DSc in Precision Engineering. She is a principle member of the ISO TC/213 committee “Dimensional Geometrical Produces Specification and Verification” and the BSI TW/4 committee "Engineering drawing, metrology, precision measurement", and a UK Measurement Advisory Committee Member.

Jane Jiang’s main research includes: development of mathematical models and algorithms for form and surface texture analysis, filtration and parametric characterisation; optical interferometry techniques for measurement of ultra-precision micro/nano-scale surface topography. Prof. Jiang has published over 200 papers and author/co-authored 8 books on measurement science and surface/precision metrology. She is a Royal Society Senior Research Fellow and holds a Wolfson Research Merit Award. Jane was awarded the UK Outstanding Asian Woman of Achievement in 2006. Prof. Jiang is an elected Fellow of IET and RSA.  

• Professor Paul Shore
• Audio recording (mp3)

• Professor Pat McKeown OBE FREng, Professor Emeritus, Cranfield University, UK
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor Pat McKeown OBE FREng Hon DSc, Hon DSc, has been described as one of the pioneers of modern high precision engineering. After initial training in the aircraft industry he joined the world leading Swiss high precision machine tool company of the time, GSIP, where he specialised in the comprehensive geometric and thermal error analyses of machines. This led to rules for the design of high precision machines and eventually to 3D error-mapping and software error compensation, in universal use today. After 13 years in industry, he returned to Cranfield in 1968 to establish the Cranfield Unit for Precision Engineering, a MinTech industrial unit which designed, constructed, commissioned and supplied a wide range of ultra-precision machine tools and metrology equipment,world-wide. These included single point diamond turning machines capable of nanometre accuracy, grinding machines for large telescope mirrors, camshafts, crankshafts and complex geometry gears and several specialist metrology instruments etc. He has led professional development short courses in the UK, USA, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia. He has been visiting professor at U of California, Berkeley, U of Wisconsin, Madison and Nanjing University of Aeronatics, China. He was the founding president of the highly successful European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, euspen, in 1999, has received lifetime achievement awards from the precision engineering societies of America, Japan and Europe and was awarded the Georg Schlesinger Pries from the State of Berlin in 2007 for his work in production engineering in general and high precision engineering in particular.  

• Professor David Whitehouse, University of Warwick & Metrology Consultant, Taylor Hobson Ltd (Ametek)
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor David Whitehouse is the world authority on surface and nanometrology theoretically and practically. He has a B.Sc. in Physics, Ph. D. in Surface Tribology and D.Sc. In Metrology. He has published over 240 papers on surface and nanometrology, has 23 patents and has written five books including the definitive ‘Handbook of Surface Metrology’, and more recently the ‘Handbook of Surface and Nanometrology’, the second edition of which was published in December 2010. He has been honoured many times with prizes and awards in the 37 countries where he has lectured including the UK. In a recent award for a long and distinguished career the American Society of Precision engineers described Professor Whitehouse as the ‘Father of Digital Metrology’.

He spent over 20 years in industry including ten years as Chief Research Engineer at Taylor Hobson Ltd. UK. After this he spent 23 years as Full Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Warwick UK for the last 5 of which he was Chief Scientist in the School of Engineering. He is now Emeritus Professor. In 1990 he started the world’s first Journal of Nanotechnology published by the Institute of Physics and was its first Editor-in-Chief.

His interest include music and fitness. In 2006 he was awarded a certificate by the amateur Swimming Association UK for Swimming 5000 miles (8,047 km) over a 20 year period.  

• Welcome
• Audio recording (mp3)

• Introduction
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor Jane Jiang holds the Chair of Precision Metrology and Chief Scientist at the Centre for Precision Technologies, University of Huddersfield. She has a PhD in Surface Measurement Science and a DSc in Precision Engineering. She is a principle member of the ISO TC/213 committee “Dimensional Geometrical Produces Specification and Verification” and the BSI TW/4 committee "Engineering drawing, metrology, precision measurement", and a UK Measurement Advisory Committee Member.

Jane Jiang’s main research includes: development of mathematical models and algorithms for form and surface texture analysis, filtration and parametric characterisation; optical interferometry techniques for measurement of ultra-precision micro/nano-scale surface topography. Prof. Jiang has published over 200 papers and author/co-authored 8 books on measurement science and surface/precision metrology. She is a Royal Society Senior Research Fellow and holds a Wolfson Research Merit Award. Jane was awarded the UK Outstanding Asian Woman of Achievement in 2006. Prof. Jiang is an elected Fellow of IET and RSA.  

• Professor Pat McKeown OBE FREng, Professor Emeritus, Cranfield University, UK
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor Pat McKeown OBE FREng Hon DSc, Hon DSc, has been described as one of the pioneers of modern high precision engineering. After initial training in the aircraft industry he joined the world leading Swiss high precision machine tool company of the time, GSIP, where he specialised in the comprehensive geometric and thermal error analyses of machines. This led to rules for the design of high precision machines and eventually to 3D error-mapping and software error compensation, in universal use today. After 13 years in industry, he returned to Cranfield in 1968 to establish the Cranfield Unit for Precision Engineering, a MinTech industrial unit which designed, constructed, commissioned and supplied a wide range of ultra-precision machine tools and metrology equipment,world-wide. These included single point diamond turning machines capable of nanometre accuracy, grinding machines for large telescope mirrors, camshafts, crankshafts and complex geometry gears and several specialist metrology instruments etc. He has led professional development short courses in the UK, USA, China, Singapore, Taiwan and Australia. He has been visiting professor at U of California, Berkeley, U of Wisconsin, Madison and Nanjing University of Aeronatics, China. He was the founding president of the highly successful European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, euspen, in 1999, has received lifetime achievement awards from the precision engineering societies of America, Japan and Europe and was awarded the Georg Schlesinger Pries from the State of Berlin in 2007 for his work in production engineering in general and high precision engineering in particular.  

• Professor Chris Evans, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA
• Audio recording (mp3)

Chris Evans is recently became a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Sciences at UNCC, where he is affiliated with the Center for Precision Metrology. His research interests are focused on ultra-precision optics manufacturing and metrology. Prior to joining UNCC, he spent 9 years as Chief Metrologist and Senior Research Scientist at Zygo Corporation and, from 1985 to 2001, worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly the National Bureau of Standards). He is a Fellow of CIRP (The International Academy for Production Engineering), a Charter Member and past president of the American Society for Precision Engineering (ASPE). Recognitions include a US Department of Commerce Gold Medal and, in 2010, the ASPE’s Lifetime Achievement Award.  

• Professor Colin Cunningham, UK Astronomy Technology Centre, Royal Observatory Edinburgh, UK
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor Colin Cunningham is the director of the UK programme for the European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT). He works at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre, an establishment of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, based at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, where he was project manager for the very successful submillimetre camera SCUBA on the James Clark Maxwell Telescope, and systems engineer for the first four years of the SPIRE instrument for the Herschel Space Observatory. He now leads the UK’s efforts towards the E-ELT and its associated instruments and systems, and chairs the European Framework 7 OPTICON Key Technology Network. He is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at Glasgow University as part of the Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, and Honorary Professor at Heriot Watt and Edinburgh Universities, where he is Deputy Director of the Institute for Integrated Systems in the Edinburgh Research Partnership. He began working in astronomical instrument development in 1987 at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Previously, he worked on electronics and instrumentation for biological, environmental and geophysical applications, at a variety of organisations including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Windermere Laboratory of the Freshwater Biological Association. He has a BSc(Eng) in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College London, and an MSc in Biophysics and Bioengineering. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Physics, the SPIE, and the IET.  

• Stephen Myers
• Audio recording (mp3)

• Professor David J Williams, Loughborough University, UK
• Audio recording (mp3)

David has been Professor in Healthcare Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University since 2003. He is Director of the university Research School of Health and Life Sciences. He leads both the EPRSC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Regenerative Medicine and a EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre in Regenerative Medicine. Between 1999 and 2003 David was Technical Director of Bespak, a major supplier of drug delivery devices to the pharmaceutical industry. This followed ten years as Professor of Manufacturing Processes at Loughborough. His early career, while including industrial jobs with GKN and Metal Box, was primarily within the Cambridge University Engineering Department. David was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2002 and holds the PhD degree of Cambridge University and DEng degree of UMIST/University of Manchester. David is also a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.   

• Professor Robert H Munnig Schmidt, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
• Audio recording (mp3)

Prof.ir. Robert H. Munnig Schmidt received the MSc degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands in 1977. From 1977 to 1983 he worked at Philips Research on the development of motion systems for the first wafer steppers and on control of direct driven heat-pump compressors. In 1983 he became technical manager at Philips Domestic Appliances in various roles. In 1997 he joined ASML where he fulfilled different R&D management roles in the fields ranging from mechanical and mechatronic development to systems engineering. He was appointed full Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, faculty Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (3mE) in 2007 and became the head of the Mechatronic System Design Laboratory within the department Precision and Microsystems Engineering (PME). Since beginning of 2010 he is also acting as departmental chairman of PME.

He is member of the "Raad van Deskundigen van de Nationale Meetstandaarden" a governmental advisory committee appointed by the Queen of the Netherlands for the safeguarding of metrological traceability where he is responsible for the fields of geometrical and mass measurements.
Besides his contributions to several more recent journal and conference papers he is inventor and co-inventor of about 30 patents.  

• Professor Ekkard Brinksmeier, Bremen University, Germany
• Audio recording (mp3)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Ekkard Brinksmeier studied mechanical engineering at the University of Hannover, Germany. After receiving his Dr.-Ing. egree in mechanical engineering in 1982 he worked as chief engineer at the Institute for Production Engineering and Machine Tools, IFW, Hannover with Prof. Hans Kurt Toenshoff. After finishing his Habilitation (extra scientific thesis and lecture qualification) in 1992, he became a full professor at the University of Bremen and holds the chair of manufacturing technologies. Furthermore he is Director of the Foundation Institute for Materials Science IWT and the Laboratory for Precision Machining LFM.

His scientific interests and research areas lie in the field of advanced manufacturing processes with special focus in the areas of ultraprecision machining processes down to nanometre tolerances, process integration (e. g., grind-hardening), development of sensor-equipped tools, development of advanced coolants in metal cutting, and the generation of functional surfaces by machining.

Prof. Brinksmeier is the coordinator of the Transregional DFG Collaborative Research Center SFB/TR4, “Process Chains for the Replication of Complex Optics” which involves participation of the universities of Bremen, Aachen and Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA. He is a Fellow of CIRP and a Fellow of SME and holds leadership positions in several associations and institutions including DFG, AiF, WGP and others. He is past president of the European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, euspen. Prof. Brinksmeier has received several awards, most notably the CIRP F. W. Taylor Medal and the DFG Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Award.  

• Professor Paul Shore
• Audio recording (mp3)

• Dr C Michael Garner
• Audio recording (mp3)

Michael Garner received his PhD in Materials Science & Engineering from Stanford University in 1978. He then joined Sandia National Labs as a Process Engineer & Product Engineer responsible for 7µm CMOS processing. In 1983, he joined Intel’s Technology and Manufacturing Group, where he was a Manager in Technology CAD responsible for modeling of lithography and silicon processes and devices, which resulted in an Intel Achievement Award. As Manager of Advanced Processing, from 1987-1994, in the Components Research Organization, lead efforts to develop advanced device processing capabilities. In 1993, he participated in the U.S. National Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors. From 1994-1998 as Director of Fab Materials, he managed development of chemicals and materials to enable development of advanced integrated circuit technologies. As Manager of the Materials Technology Operation, he was responsible for research on emerging materials, including nanomaterials, to enable solutions to difficult technical challenges in future integrated circuit technologies. Since 2004, he has also been the leader of the Emerging Research Materials (ERM) Work Group of the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors which is identifying critical materials for future devices, processing, lithography, interconnects and electronic packages for technologies through 2025. The scope of Emerging Materials includes synthesis, critical properties, performance in applications, metrology, and modeling and environmental health and safety requirements. From 2004 to January 2011, he was the Program Manager of External Materials Research in the Technology Strategy Organization.  

• Mr Philip Charles Ruffles CBE FREng FRS, formerly Rolls-Royce plc, UK

Philip Charles Ruffles joined Rolls-Royce in 1961 after graduating from Bristol University with a first class honours degree in Mechanical Engineering. He played a leading role in the development of the RB211engine, followed by periods in helicopter engine development, technology and design before becoming Director of Engineering of the Aerospace Group in 1991 and Main Board Director for Engineering and Technology in 1997 until his retirement in 2001,

Mr Ruffles is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has served on many government committees and other bodies including the Advisory Council for Aeronautical Research in Europe, the Council of the Central Laboratory Research Council, the Council of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Council of the Royal Society. He is currently a member of the UK Government Council for Science and Technology. He was a board member of Diamond Light Source Ltd from its inception until 2006 and is a Non-executive Director of Domino Printing Sciences plc. He has received many national and international awards including Honorary Doctorates from Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield and City Universities and a Fellowship from Imperial College. He is an Honorary Professor of Warwick and Birmingham Universities. He was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Medal and the Royal Academy of Engineering Mac Robert Award in 1996 and the Prince Philip Medal from the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2001. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2001. 

• Professor David Whitehouse, University of Warwick & Metrology Consultant, Taylor Hobson Ltd (Ametek)
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor David Whitehouse is the world authority on surface and nanometrology theoretically and practically. He has a B.Sc. in Physics, Ph. D. in Surface Tribology and D.Sc. In Metrology. He has published over 240 papers on surface and nanometrology, has 23 patents and has written five books including the definitive ‘Handbook of Surface Metrology’, and more recently the ‘Handbook of Surface and Nanometrology’, the second edition of which was published in December 2010. He has been honoured many times with prizes and awards in the 37 countries where he has lectured including the UK. In a recent award for a long and distinguished career the American Society of Precision engineers described Professor Whitehouse as the ‘Father of Digital Metrology’.

He spent over 20 years in industry including ten years as Chief Research Engineer at Taylor Hobson Ltd. UK. After this he spent 23 years as Full Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Warwick UK for the last 5 of which he was Chief Scientist in the School of Engineering. He is now Emeritus Professor. In 1990 he started the world’s first Journal of Nanotechnology published by the Institute of Physics and was its first Editor-in-Chief.

His interest include music and fitness. In 2006 he was awarded a certificate by the amateur Swimming Association UK for Swimming 5000 miles (8,047 km) over a 20 year period.  

• Professor Paul J Scott, Taylor Hobson Ltd, UK
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor Paul J. Scott started his career at Taylor Hobson Ltd, Leicester: a world leader in the design and development of ultra-precision metrology instruments for surface texture and form. He spent twenty six years in the research department applying mathematical ideas and concepts to surface texture and form measuring instruments both during the development of instrumentation and post development for mathematical enhancements of the metrological capabilities of instrumentation.

Paul is currently chairman of BSI technical committee TDE/4/-/9 (Properties and Metrology of surfaces) and represents the UK on ISO technical committee TC/213 (Dimensional and geometrical product specification and verification-GPS) and its subcommittees and working groups. He is the convenor of WG15 (Filtration and extraction) and AG12 (Mathematical support for GPS). He is very actively involved with the formation of international standards (author of sixteen standards) and is project leader on several new international draft standards.

As well as continuing to work at Taylor Hobson, Paul holds the Chair in Computational Geometry, with a research focused on mathematics, algorithms, intelligent knowledge systems, measurement, and geometrical characterisation of size, shape and texture. Paul has published many papers on these topics as well as the standardisation of GPS.  

• John Pethica
• Audio recording (mp3)

• Professor Xiang Jane Jiang, University of Huddersfield, UK
• Audio recording (mp3)

Professor Jane Jiang holds the Chair of Precision Metrology and Chief Scientist at the Centre for Precision Technologies, University of Huddersfield. She has a PhD in Surface Measurement Science and a DSc in Precision Engineering. She is a principle member of the ISO TC/213 committee “Dimensional Geometrical Produces Specification and Verification” and the BSI TW/4 committee "Engineering drawing, metrology, precision measurement", and a UK Measurement Advisory Committee Member.

Jane Jiang’s main research includes: development of mathematical models and algorithms for form and surface texture analysis, filtration and parametric characterisation; optical interferometry techniques for measurement of ultra-precision micro/nano-scale surface topography. Prof. Jiang has published over 200 papers and author/co-authored 8 books on measurement science and surface/precision metrology. She is a Royal Society Senior Research Fellow and holds a Wolfson Research Merit Award. Jane was awarded the UK Outstanding Asian Woman of Achievement in 2006. Prof. Jiang is an elected Fellow of IET and RSA.  

• Dr Adrian Russell, European Southern Observatory, Germany
• Audio recording (mp3)

Dr Adrian Russell is currently the Director of Programmes at the ESO. He took up this position in July of 2010.

Adrian graduated from the University of Sheffield in 1983 with a 1st Class Honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, also receiving the IEE Prize and the Mappin Medal, before undertaking a Ph.D. in Astronomy at the University of Cambridge (Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory), working on mm-wave heterodyne instrumentation and molecular-line studies of outflows in star-formation regions. In 1987 he joined the Royal Observatory Edinburgh and went on a three year tour of duty as a support scientist for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii.

In 1990 Adrian spent a two year sabbatical with Professor Reinhard Genzel's group at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching near Munich Germany where he worked on very high frequency sub-mm instrumentation for the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope. He became the Head of the JCMT Instrumentation Programme at the Royal Observatory Edinburgh (an international development programme carried out in the UK, Canada and the Netherlands) in 1992. He was the UK Project Manager for the Gemini twin 8-metre telescopes project from 1995 to 2001. In 1996 he was made Deputy Director of the Royal Observatory Edinburgh, and was appointed as the first Director of the U.K. Astronomy Technology Centre in Edinburgh in 1998. In January 2005, Adrian joined NRAO as North American ALMA Project Manager and subsequently he was made North American ALMA Project Director.  

• Christopher J Stolz
• Audio recording (mp3)

• Dr C K (Sam) Beale, Rolls-Royce plc
• Audio recording (mp3)

Sam, a mechanical engineering graduate from Durham University, joined Rolls-Royce plc, at Derby in 1978 after 4 years in motor racing with March.  After initial familiarisation, he became Assistant Chief Design Engineer on the V2500 engine, before transferring to the Bristol site in 1986 to head up the Systems and Transmissions Department.  From 1988, he was Chief Design Engineer progressively of the Pegasus, Trent 800, RB199 and EJ200 engines and design teams.  Sam became Chief Engineer - Helicopter Engines in 1995 and Chief Engineer - Research & Technology in 1998.  Sam was appointed Head of Technology Strategy for Rolls-Royce plc in December 2007.  He was appointed a Rolls-Royce Pension Fund Trustee in September 2003 and to Clifton College Council in October 2009.  He is currently a member of the South West Science & Industry Council and the North West Science Council. 

• Panel Discussion - Future Directions
• Audio recording (mp3)

• Professor Alistair Forbes, National Physical Laboratory, UK

Alistair Forbes studied mathematics at Aberdeen (BSc, 1977), Newcastle (MSc, 1978) and Pennsylvania (MA, 1984). Since joining NPL in 1985, he has carried out research in mathematical and statistical modelling, algorithm design, uncertainty evaluation, numerical software development and validation and has published over 120 papers and reports on the application of mathematics to metrology. His current research interests include: Bayesian inference, uncertainty evaluation and decision making, sensor networks and data fusion, computational approaches to coordinate metrology and surface assessment. He is an NPL Fellow in Mathematics and Scientific Computing, Visiting Professor of Industrial Mathematics at the University of Huddersfield, Scientific Secretary of IMEKO TC21, Mathematical Tools for Measurement, Chairman, ENBIS Special Interest Group on Measurement Uncertainty, and on the Scientific Programme Committee for international conferences on Advanced Mathematical and Computational Tools for Metrology (co-chair, 2011), Algorithms for Approximation, Laser Metrology and Machine Performance (co-chair, 2009), Measurement Systems and Process Improvement (chair 2010), Design of Industrial Experiments, European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology International Conference and Exhibition, and Metrology and Properties of Surfaces.