Prof Xiangqian (Jane) Jiang FREng, appointed as the Royal Academy Engineering/Renishaw chair in precision metrology, will bring together modern mathematics and optics to create sensor hardware and bespoke software, with a new approach to hierarchical design and metrology. Building on her experience in the automotive industry and over 20 years’ research in measurement science, the new funding will enable her to develop the technology that will form the backbone of autonomous manufacturing infrastructure over the next 30 years.
As manufacturing makes a shift towards intelligent, digital systems, new technology is required to ensure that factory systems remain reliable during the design, production and verification of high value products. However, current measurement systems lag behind the pace of development of computer technology, which is being used to create increasingly smart, connected production lines – so-called ‘Industry 4.0’.
Professor Jiang says: “Under this research sponsorship, the next generation of embedded metrology technologies will be explored, generated and then integrated into manufacturing systems and platforms.” It will facilitate the future factory to produce ‘right first time and every time’ fabrication of complex products in many sectors, for example, aerospace, automotive, electronics, healthcare, energy and even astronomy.”
The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, Professor Bob Cryan CBE DL FREng, an engineer himself, added: “Jane Jiang’s contribution to her scientific discipline, to advanced manufacturing and to the academic world has been immense. She has had many honours and awards bestowed on her, with her Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering being perhaps the most prestigious. Now this new Chair is yet another distinction and another reason for the University of Huddersfield to take pride in this remarkable engineer. But we must not forget that the principal beneficiaries of her research will be the manufacturing sector and therefore the wider economy.”
Prof Geoff McFarland, group engineering director at Renishaw, says: “We would like to congratulate Professor Jiang on her appointment to this important role and look forward to working closely with her in the coming years. It is highly gratifying that metrology is increasingly being recognised for its importance as a core enabling technology at the very heart of the manufacturing process and no longer simply a stand-alone discipline.”
