MAPP Lecture Series

Richard Leach, Professor of Metrology at the University of Nottingham, gave the inaugural talk in the MAPP Lecture Series.

More than 30 people attended the November lecture entitled “Enriching additive manufacturing metrology.”

Prof Leach spent 25 years at the National Physical Laboratory before moving to the University of Nottingham. He obtained a PhD in Surface Metrology from the University of Warwick in 2000 and a DSc from Warwick in 2014. The talk addressed a new approach to metrology which can help to solve some of the outstanding issues in additive (and more generally, digital) manufacturing.

Additive manufacturing allows us to manufacture highly complex geometries – a bonus for designers but a headache for metrologists. Prof Leach’s research is dominated by what he calls "information-rich metrology (IRM)": the enhancement of manufacturing metrology through the use of a priori information, often utilising concepts from artificial intelligence.

IRM refers to a philosophy of thought, where the conventional paradigm of measurement (measurement information gathered solely through the physical interaction of the instrument with the measured object) is transcended, thanks to the introduction and active role of multiple novel sources of information.

Examples of IRM in action in additive manufacturing were presented, including the measurement of form and texture, external and internal features, and post- and in-process metrology.

Director of MAPP, Professor Iain Todd said: “Richard’s lecture was very interesting and informative. It was a great start to our new series of lectures which will see high-quality speakers give their insight into advanced powder processes and related subjects.”

Prof Leach is on the Council of the European Society of Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, the International Committee on Measurements and Instrumentation and several international standards committees. He is the European Editor-in-Chief for Precision Engineering. He has over 350 publications including five textbooks. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, the Institution of Engineering & Technology, the International Society of Nanomanufacturing and a Sustained Member of the American Society of Precision Engineering. He is a visiting professor at Loughborough University and the Harbin Institute of Technology.

Details for the series of lectures are being finalised, the next one will be given by Dr Hector Basoalto at the University of Sheffield on Tuesday 13 February 2018, click here to register.