Professor Chris Backhouse

BSc MSc PhD CEng FIMechE FIEE

  • Emeritus Professor of Product Innovation
  • Chair, School Learning and Teaching Committee
  • Head of Management Group

Background

  • Graduated in Engineering Science (BSc) Durham, 1975.
  • MSc in Machines and Mechanisms, Liverpool Polytechnic, 1979.
  • PhD (part time) in Spatial Differential Geometry from Liverpool Polytechnic jointly with Unilever Research Port Sunlight Laboratories, 1989.
  • Design consultant Liverpool Polytechnic, 1980 - 1982.
  • Scientist, Unilever Research, 1983 - 1990.
  • Seconded full-time to Cambridge University Engineering Department, Manufacturing Group as Visiting Industrial Fellow, 1987 - 1989.
  • Design Manager, Morris Cranes, 1990 - 1994.
  • Senior Lecturer (joint appointment with Morris Cranes) Loughborough University, 1990 - 1994.
  • Head of Dept of Manufacturing Engineering, 1995 - 1999.
  • Director of Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, 1999 - 2001.
  • Dean of Engineering, 2001 - 2007.
  • Director of Internationalisation Strategy for the University, 2007 - 2012.

Research Interests and Activities

  • Organisation structures in Manufacturing
  • Operations Management
  • Motivation
  • Performance Measurement
  • Supply Chains

External Activities

  • Guest Professor: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  • Editor in Chief: Proceedings of the IMechE, Part E, Journal of Process Mechanical Engineering
  • Editorial Board: International Journal of Product Development
  • Editorial Board: International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering
  • Expert Reviewer: Research Council of Norway
  • Non-Executive Director: Centre of Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence, Rainham, Essex, UK
  • Member of East Midlands International Trade Forum (UKTI)

Awards

  • IEE Manufacturing Divisional Premium 1998
  • Emerald Literati Club Outstanding Paper Award 2000
  • IMechE A.M.Strickland Prize 2006