Dr Aparajithan Sivanathan
MSc, PhD
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
Head of Digital Technologies
Full contact details
Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre
Samlesbury Enterprise Zone
Roy Chadwick Way, Mellor Brook
Blackburn
BB2 7HP
- Profile
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Sivanathan leads advanced industrial connectivity research at AMRC, leveraging his multidisciplinary background in manufacturing, electronics, and computing. He holds an MSc in Mechatronics engineering from King’s College London and a PhD from Heriot-Watt University.
Sivanathan's track record includes securing over £16 million in prestigious research grants from funding bodies such as DSIT, DCMS, BEIS, HVMC, Innovate UK, and EPSRC. He has also been instrumental in securing over £500,000 for commercial research and development from major industrial players, including BAE Systems Air, BAE Systems Weapons & Munitions, Sprit AeroSystems, Boeing, AWE, and several SMEs.
His research spans a wide variety of topics, including communication networks, data architectures, cyber security in knowledge-based systems, manufacturing information systems, human-in-the-loop and industrial IoT.
Before his research career, Sivanathan worked as an R&D engineer in the embedded electronics industry.
In 2023, Sivanathan was appointed as the Chair of the UK Telecoms Innovation Network (UKTIN) Manufacturing Working Group.
- Qualifications
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MSc, PhD
- Research interests
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Sivanathan’s research interests include:
- advanced connectivity solutions for manufacturing
- distributed manufacturing data architectures
- ultra-low latency closed-loop control
- cyber security in manufacturing
- manufacturing information management
- product life cycle data
- ​​​​​​​human in the loop systems
- knowledge capture
- large language models
- supply chain network analytics
- graph data analytics
- Publications
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Journal articles
- . Acta Technologica Agriculturae, 26(3), 121-132.
- . IEEE Access, 10, 127742-127753.
- . BMJ Innovations, 7(3), 556-563.
- . International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 13(1), 90-90.
- . International Journal of Mechatronics and Manufacturing Systems, 13(1), 90-90.
- . Journal of Engineering Design, 28(10-12), 681-708.
- . Automation in Construction, 83, 48-55.
- . Applied Ergonomics, 54, 120-130.
- . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 45(12), 4084-4100.
- . Computer-Aided Design, 59, 176-191.
- . Entertainment Computing, 5(4), 323-334.
- . Computer-Aided Design, 54, 19-38.
- . Frontiers in Neuroengineering, 7.
Chapters
- , Manufacturing in the Era of 4th Industrial Revolution (pp. 179-212). World Scientific
- , Manufacturing in the Era of 4th Industrial Revolution (pp. 131-177). World Scientific
Conference proceedings papers
- . Volume 1B: 38th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, 26 August 2018 - 29 August 2018.
- Development of a mixed reality game for simulation based education. Proceedings of the European Conference on Games-based Learning, Vol. 2018-October (pp 212-220)
- . Proceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference, Vol. 1B-2018
- . Volume 1: 37th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, 6 August 2017 - 9 August 2017.
- . Volume 1B: 36th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, 21 August 2016 - 24 August 2016.
- . Procedia CIRP, Vol. 52 (pp 216-221)
- . Volume 1B: 34th Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, 17 August 2014 - 20 August 2014.
- . Proceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference, Vol. 1B
- (pp 157-171)
- . Volume 2B: 33rd Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, 4 August 2013 - 7 August 2013.
- . Procedia Computer Science, Vol. 15 (pp 103-110)
- . Acta Technologica Agriculturae, 26(3), 121-132.
- Research group
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AMRC North West
- Grants
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Sivanathan has been involved in a number of research projects, spanning various technology readiness levels, during his time at the AMRC. Most recent projects include:
- Factory of the Future Open Radio Access Networks (FoFoRAN) £5 million, 1.5 million to AMRC - Consortium Lead/PI, funded by DSIT. AMRC led the consortium partners including BAE Systems, Dassult Systems, aql, productive machines, safnetics, Telent and Royal Air Force Experimental (RAFx). The project studies the gaps in Open RAN technologies form the view point of high density factory environments [2023 October- 2025 March]
- 5G Factory of the Future, £10 million, 1.7 million to AMRC, - Consortium Lead/PI, funded by DCMS. AMRC led the consortium partners including BAE Systems, IBM, and aql and digital catapult, and key stakeholders including Nokia and Vodafone. The project has set up a private 5G testbed within AMRC and BAE Systems’ premises, and explores 5G’s suitability for the future large manufacturing programmes, such as the Tempest next generation combat aircraft programme. [2020 September - 2023 March]
- Yorkshire Radio Access Network (YoRAN) -£5 Million, 400k to AMRC – Co investigator. funded by DCMS, and Investigates 5G/6G, open RAN and mmWave radio technologies for ultra-resilient manufacturing applications. [2023 January - 2025 March]
- 5GAMMEx Principal Investigator, - £100k – Principal Investigator, funded by BEIS, UK/Turkey Tactical fund, Partners AMRC, MEXT/MESS. Demonstrated real-time closed loop control of CNC machines using 5G and cloud [2022 September - 2023 May]
- Connected Tempest 500k, 250k to AMRC – Principal Investigator, funded by Innovate UK/madesmarter, partners: BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, Siemens, National Composite Centre, National Physics Laboratory. Explores Model-based data exchange techniques for the Future Combat Aircraft System(FCAS) [2022-2024]
- Manufacturing Connect Lancashire £400k (120k toAMRC) – Co-Investigator. funded by Innovate UK under Business Basics 3: SME technology use non-business led trials competition/50175. The project explored accelerating the MES and ERP systems adoption within the manufacturing SME sector. [2020-2022]