Department of
Mechanical, Materials and Manufacturing Engineering
 

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Richard Leach

Professor in Metrology, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

Richard is currently a professor in metrology and Director of the Midlands Centre for Data-driven Metrology at the University of Nottingham and prior to this spent 25 years at the National Physical Laboratory. Richard obtained a BSc in Applied Physics from Kingston University in 1989, an MSc in Industrial Measurement Systems from Brunel University in 1994, a PhD in Surface Metrology from University of Warwick in 2000 and a DSc from Warwick in 2014. Richard is on the Council of the European Society of Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, the Board of Directors of the American Society of Precision Engineering, the EPSRC Peer Review College, the International Committee on Measurements and Instrumentation and several international standards committees. He is the European Editor-in-Chief for Precision Engineering and the founder of the new Institute of Physics journal: Surface Topography: Metrology & Properties. He has over 550 publications including eight textbooks. Richard is a Fellow of the International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP), the Institute of Physics, the Institution of Engineering & Technology, the Institute of Measurement & Control, the Higher Education Academy, the International Society of Nanomanufacturing, a Sustaining Member of the American Society of Precision Engineering, a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Physicist. He is a visiting professor at Loughborough University and the Harbin Institute of Technology (High Level Expert status). In 2019, Richard was awarded the Finkelstein medal from the Institute of Measurement & Control for notable contributions to measurement internationally.

Richard is part of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Group, Manufacturing Metrology Team: www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/manufacturing-metrology

Richard has had over 50 PhD students in his time. Open PhD positions: www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/advanced-manufacturing-technology-research-group/research-teams/manufacturing-metrology-team/vacancies.aspx

Richard recently span-out a company to market the IP from his team: Taraz Metrology Ltd: taraz-metrology.com/

Expertise Summary

Richard's research is dominated by what he calls "information-rich metrology": the enhancement of manufacturing metrology through the use of a priori information, often utilising concepts from artificial intelligence. His current interests are the dimensional measurement of precision and additive manufactured structures. Additive manufacturing (3D printing) allows for almost infinite design freedom; a revolution in the way things are made, but a serious headache for those that have the measure the shape of the parts. Drawing on concepts such as machine learning and sensor fusion, Richard's research is changing the approach to quality control in manufacturing. Richard is recognised worldwide by his research into surface topography measurement, and his research has made a major contribution to the use of surface engineering and control in a wide range of industrial applications including advanced manufacturing, tribology, aerodynamics and even archeology. Complementing these advances in science, he has been prominent in precision engineering, with major industry collaborations involving advanced product manufacture and the recent production of an undergraduate textbook.

Teaching Summary

Basics of metrology, dimensional metrology, surface metrology, uncertainty analysis

Research Summary

The projects in my group are summarised here:… read more

Selected Publications

Current Research

The projects in my group are summarised here: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/research/groups/advanced-manufacturing-technology-research-group/research/manufacturing-metrology-team/our-research/index.aspx

Future Research

I welcome inquiries from potential PhD candidates from Home, EU and International countries who are interested in the following research areas: Metrology, Additive manufacturing, Surface topography, Optical techniques.

Department of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Materials Engineering

The University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD


telephone: +44 (0) 115 95 14081