Thomas Furness

Having completed my under-graduate degree in mechanical engineering at Manchester metropolitan university, I proceeded to undertake a master’s degree in mechanical engineering design at the University of Huddersfield. Upon completion of my master’s degree, I was involved in a KTP collaboration between the CPT and a local engineering firm. The aim of this collaboration was to automate an otherwise manual procedure of the repair and reclamation of machine cutting tools. During this time I started my post-doctoral studies, part-time, which involves the use of thermography to reverse engineering the internal components of a hollow object.

Upon completing my KTP collaboration, I was employed by a world leader in the automation and process machinery business. Whilst here I engaged in the design and development of large scale process machinery, which included mechanical design, automation, pneumatic and electrical design, project management, and drawing generation. During this time, I still held onto my university contacts through my ongoing PhD studies.

After two more years in industry, I decided to return to the university as a research associate. During my short time here, I have been involved in several high profile projects, including EU framework 7 projects such as EASE-R3 (Integrated framework for a cost-effective and ease of Repair, Renovation and Re-use of machine tools within modern factory) and have undertaken supervisory roles in KTP projects.

Currently I am overseeing the CPT’s contribution to the HI-LHC-UK project in collaboration with the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).  In addition to this, I am presently based in Geneva, Switzerland, as the CPT’s attaché to CERN.

• Mechanical and electrical design of laser based metrology devices for the in situ conditioning and calibration or machine tools
• Reverse engineering of complex shapes (including the capture of internal structures through non-destructive)