Personal statement

Stuart Laidlaw is currently Knowledge Exchange Fellow, leading the SME Innovation Support Team at the Advanced Forming Research Centre, a part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. He is focussed on the practical implementation of innovation projects and support mechanisms for SMEs in the UK manufacturing industry, and is current chair of the ALFED (UK Aluminium Federation) Innovation Group. Prior to joining the team at the AFRC in 2014, Stuart spent 22 years in the metallurgical manufacturing industry within the global automotive supply chain. During that time he has spent over 10 years on the shop floor, working on industrial R&D projects in the continuous casting of aluminium and bronze alloys, continuous sintering, and the cold roll bonding of multilayer aluminium alloys to steel. In addition to this, he spent 8 years running an industrial performance and failure analysis department, investigating the properties, application and performance of plain bearings for internal combustion engines. This became a highly customer facing technical role, working directly with engineers and scientists from the world's leading automotive manufacturers. For the final 5 years of his time in industry, Stuart held the position of Quality and Process Engineering Manager, overseeing four teams of scientists, engineers and technologists, supporting all technical and quality aspects of the manufacturing operation. Within this role he was responsible for all aspects of the Process Engineering, including the continuous improvement activities across the manufacturing facility, with a particular focus on the metallurgical manufacturing processes.