EngD Centres

University of Sheffield

The Industrial Doctorate Centre (IDC) in Machining Science is a unique collaboration between industry, the University of Sheffield's award winning Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and the Faculty of Engineering.

We are an EPSRC recognised Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) offering around 10 fully-funded four-year postgraduate research studentships per year. The IDC is one of a small number of CDTs offering both four-year PhD and EngD options.

Machining Science is the application of engineering theories to improve the machining of metals, alloys and composite materials. It covers a wide range of operations where material is removed as part of the production process (e.g. hole generation, turning and finishing), and crosses many engineering disciplines including dynamics, vibration, tribology, materials science, control systems, drive and actuation systems, and robotics.

Machining Science is a vital research area for companies in the High Value Manufacturing sector (e.g. automotive, aerospace, medical engineering) where at least 25% of the process time for components arises from machining. The sector faces huge challenges, such as the difficulty of machining complex components from high performance (hence difficult to machine) materials, the cost of energy and raw materials, environmental sustainability, and the threat of international competition.

The IDC is dedicated to developing the next generation of postgraduate researchers in this crucial area of the UK economy. Our industry sponsors represent all parts of the HMV supply chain from materials suppliers through to aircraft manufacturers. Our current sponsors include: Boeing, Messier-Bugatti-Dowty, Rolls-Royce, Sandvik Coromant, Nikken, Element Six, Hexagon Metrology and Carpenter Technology.

Students start as a single cohort in early September. In year 1, students take a tailored programme oof personal and professional skills development, as well as taught courses in appropriate science and technical disciplines. This training underpins three mini research projects, where students explore the scope of their main research problem, and formulate their individual research questions, which will be addressed in years 2 - 4.

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