Andrew is currently a Senior Lecturer in Product Design, leads the BSc. Product Design & Technology programme (2021 onwards), and is an Admissions Tutor for the suite of Design programmes within the School of Design & Creative Arts.

Andrew was a first-generation university student and holds a First-Class BSc (Hons) degree in Industrial Design and a distinction level MSc in Rapid Product Development.

In 2010 he joined Loughborough to focus on doctoral research aimed at utilising Additive Manufacturing technologies for the development of stab resistant body armour. Following the completion of his PhD, Andrew was employed as a Research Associate on the highly successful EU FP7 funded CassaMobile project. In 2015, he was appointed as a lecturer in Product Design where his research has specialised on the use of Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing technologies for protective applications. This research has won a number of awards sponsored by the Rapid Prototyping Journal (RPJ), UK Defence Safety & Security Committee, IOM3, and the Solid Freeform Fabrication conference.

Expertise

3D Printing, 3D Printed Textiles, Additive Armour, Additive Manufacturing, Armour Comfort (Tactile and Thermal), Body Armour, Bespoke Clothing, Future Armour, Personal Protection, Product Design.

In 2018 the Andrew was awarded £100,699 by the UKRI EPSRC as Principal Investigator on the ‘Hybrid Additive Manufactured-Aramid Fibre Body Armour’ project (EP/R015155/1). This 15-month project was supported by the UK Home Office/Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, and sought to utilise design and manufacturing opportunities offered by Additive Manufacturing technologies, coupled with the enhanced protective performance and manoeuvrability of existing aramid-based armour, to establish the first-generation hybrid-AM-aramid fibre body armour panel capable of providing protection against both stab and ballistic threats. Outputs from this project were selected for exhibition as part of 2019 London Design Fair ’AHRC Design Research for Change Showcase’.


Andrew is also a co-investigator on the AHRC funded ‘Business of Fashion, Textiles, and Technology Partnership’ project (AH/S002804/1). This is a collaborative R&D partnership project working with the Fashion Textiles and related Technology industry to develop research-led solutions to business growth, technological and consumer change. This includes working closely with small firms who make up the vast majority (80+%) of the sector, in fashion design, designer-making, manufacturing, retail and in related services that are fed by the fashion & textiles sector, as well as a wide range of textiles applications in manufacturing, medical and product design. Key roles as part this project include the adoption of Additive Manufacturing and complementary digital design and engineering technologies, with a view of testing consumer acceptance of Additive Manufactured components within the fashion textiles domain (WP7).

  • Final Year Design Practice
  • Prototyping for Design
  • Fundamental Mechanics for Product Design
  • Foundation Product Design

Andrew is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), and regularly reviews the latest journal submissions within the field of Additive Manufacturing and Product Design for Nature Communications; Rapid Prototyping Journal; Journal of Industrial Textiles; Virtual & Rapid Prototyping Journal; The Police Journal; Materials Research Express; International Journal of Design.

In addition, Andrew is engaged with a range of research and armour community networks, including:

• EPSRC Associate College & UKRI Future Leaders Peer Review College
• Land Integrated Survivability Technology Exploitation Network (LISTEN), UK Ministry of Defence/DSTL
• East Midlands Policing Academic Collaboration (EMPAC) Cooperative Network

Doctoral researchers under the supervision of Andrew span the topics of personal protection and additive manufacturing materials and processes. If you would like to explore undertaking a PhD with Andrew within the area of 3D printing, future body armour, or 3D printed textiles, please get in touch.

Current PhD Supervision

  • Smart Personal Protection: Integrating Additive Manufactured Printable Electronics, Umur Cicek
  • The Digital and Sustainable Future of Knitwear Fashion for SME’s, Eleanor Scott
  • Comfort in Protective Clothing: Understanding Thermal and Tactile Perception of Skin for Improving Future Body Armour Design, Mevra Temel
  • Machine Learning Image Classification for Material Extrusion Quality Assurance, Franziska Zaunig

Research Degree Supervision Completions

  • Additively Manufactured Personal Protection for Blunt Force Trauma in Sport, Jayme Rossiter, 2020
  • Design, Manufacturing, and Characterisation of Biodegradable Polylactic Acid by Fused Filament Fabrication, Alper Ekinci, 2020