Ward, Robert, Dr

Dr Robert Ward

School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Industrial Research Fellow

r.a.ward@sheffield.ac.uk

Amy Johnson Building

Full contact details

Dr Robert Ward
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Amy Johnson Building
Portobello Street
��«Ӱҵ
S1 3JD

Profile

Dr Rob Ward holds a joint academic position between the department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (ACSE) and the University of ��«Ӱҵ Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). As an Industrial Research Fellow, he develops, leads and supervises research programmes in self-optimising autonomous manufacturing. Rob is a Chartered Engineer and he brings a wealth of project and operational management experience to support the undergraduate teaching and postgraduate supervision in the dept.

Rob has an MEng(Hons) degree in Avionics and Aerospace Systems from the University of Manchester and a Engineering Doctorate in Machining Science and Control Engineering from the University of ��«Ӱҵ. Prior to joining the University of ��«Ӱҵ and the AMRC in 2017, Rob served as an Engineering Officer in the UK Military.

At the AMRC Rob sits within Digital Machining Research Team and heads up the control of subtractive manufacturing operations theme. Rob collaborates and consults on both higher technology readiness level (TRL) industrial projects and lower TRL HVMC and EPSRC funded projects. He is particularly interested in the domains of CNC machine tool control, machining digital twins, robotic machining and CNC interpolation.

At ACSE, Rob is the module leader on 3rd and 4th year undergraduate courses in Rapid Control Prototyping. He supervises UG and PG students and is passionate about preparing them for professional engineering careers. Rob is the impact and innovation lead for the Department and the UG admissions tutor.

Rob welcomes applications from potential undergraduate, masters and PhD students to join the team and undertake industry focused projects.

As part of the joint role, Rob is keen to narrow the gap between the Faculty and the Advanced Manufacturing Group, promote opportunities for academic staff collaboration, increase the number of UG/PGT/PGR projects and promote summer placements, industrial placements and SURE schemes.

Research interests

Digital Machining
Machine Tool Control
CNC Trajectory Generation & Interpolation
Precision Motion Control Systems
Robotic Machining
Digital Twins
Industry 4.0 Technologies
Adaptive CNC Control

Publications

Journal articles

Duro JA, Ward R, Rooke J, Pickford E, Bonnell R, Brown A, Purshouse RC & Curtis D (2024) . Procedia CIRP, 130, 1358-1363.
Chien S-H, Sencer B & Ward R (2024) . CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, 48, 28-41.
Chien S-H, Sencer B & Ward R (2023) . Journal of Manufacturing Systems.
Ward R & Sencer B (2023) . Procedia CIRP, 120, 27-32.
Sun C, Dominguez-Caballero J, Ward R, Ayvar-Soberanis S & Curtis D (2022) . Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 75, 102293-102293.
Ward RA, Sencer B, Jones B & Ozturk E (2022) . Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, 144(8).
Ward R, Sun C, Dominguez-Caballero J, Ojo S, Ayvar-Soberanis S, Curtis D & Ozturk E (2021) . The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology.
Ward R, Sencer B, Jones B & Ozturk E (2021) . The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 116(1-2), 417-438.
Ward R, Soulatiantork P, Finneran S, Hughes R & Tiwari A (2021) . Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture.

Conference proceedings papers

Ward R, Sencer B, Panoutsos G & Ozturk E (2022) . Procedia CIRP, Vol. 107 (pp 1571-1576). Lugano, Switzerland, 29 June 2022 - 1 July 2022.
Ward R, Ozkirimli O & Jones B (2021) . Procedia CIRP, Vol. 101 (pp 298-301). Online conference, 24 May 2021 - 26 May 2021.

Preprints

Sun C, Dominguez-Caballero J, Ward R, Ayvar-Soberanis S & Curtis D (2021) Machining Cycle Time Prediction: Data-driven Modelling of Machine Tool Feedrate Behavior with Neural Networks, arXiv.
Ward R, Sencer B, Jones B & Ozturk E (2021) Accurate Prediction Of Machining Feedrate And Cycle Time Prediction Considering Interpolator Dynamics, arXiv.

Teaching interests: ACS336/ACS61015 Rapid Control Prototyping

Professional activities and memberships

Professional Accreditation

Chartered Engineer (CEng)
Member of Institute of Engineering and Technology (MIET)
Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (MIEEE)

Journal Reviewer

International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture
ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering
International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing

Conference Reviewer

CIRP Conference of Manufacturing Systems
CIRP Conference on High Performance Cutting
CIRP Conference of Modelling of Machining Operations