Wolfson School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University

Applications are sought for a PhD studentship within the Centre for Sustainable Manufacturing and Recycling Technologies (SMART), http://www.lboro.ac.uk/smart, in the Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, one of the largest Engineering Schools devoted to this subject area in the UK.

Following the award of a substantial grant, the Centre for SMART is building its research activities in sustainable food manufacturing and requires a number of PhD students to work on its ‘Grand Challenge’ projects of Eco-Production of Food, Sustainable Food Supply Chains and Distributed Manufacturing of Food.

Project Description: It has been well documented and is widely agreed that the future global community will not have access to the same level of energy-rich fossil fuels that we enjoy today. A shift towards renewable energy sources will bring inevitable unreliability in energy supply and because food manufacturing is an essential industry, it is important to mitigate against these potential short and long-term supply shortages to ensure continued production. This PhD project will therefore seek to develop analytical and planning tools that enable food manufacturers to identify and prioritise key processes within their factories that will enable uninterrupted food production. Specifically the ability to react to surges and shortages in energy supply by rapidly increasing and decreasing productivity levels will enable food manufacturers to become more resilient to unpredictable energy supply. This project will look at the benefits of ‘storing energy in stock’ and how this can be implemented by modern food manufacturing facilities.

Although based within the Centre for SMART at Loughborough, this position will work within an EPSRC National Research Centre in Food Manufacturing, in collaboration with the Universities of Nottingham and Birmingham as well as a large food manufacturing companies and retailers including AB Sugar, Cargill, Mars, McCain Foods, PepsiCo, Premier Foods, Nestle, Unilever, Marks and Spencer and J Sainsbury. It is expected that the successful student will spend some time working within these other organisations during their study.

Applicants must be expecting, or have already obtained a first degree (1^st class or high 2:1 honours or equivalent) in manufacturing engineering, food science, mechanical engineering or any other relevant field. Good communication skills are essential as well as an interest in environmental impact assessment and sustainable development.

The studentship will start in January 2015, is for three years, and is valued at £13,863 p.a. plus tuition fees at the UK/EU rate. Non UK applicants must meet the minimum English language requirements, details of which are available on the Loughborough University website.

Applicants seeking additional information are invited to contact Dr Elliot Woolley (e-maile.b.woolley<στο>lboro.ac.uk) to discuss this project in more detail.

Interviews are planned to take place in December. Please quote the reference EBW031114 on all correspondence and especially on the application form.