Professor David Lee Butler PhD, MSc (Eng), BEng(Hons)

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MTC Chair in Sustainable Manufacturing

Contact details

Email
d.l.butler@bham.ac.uk
Address
School of Engineering
黑料吃瓜网
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

I’m currently the MTC Chair in Sustainable Manufacturing and lead the Sustainable Manufacturing Group. In a nutshell there is no second planet so we need to rethink how we make products and how we sell them. The MTC or, in full, The is a 700 strong organisation focusing on translational research. Sustainable manufacturing covers a plethora of activities including, materials extraction, processing, life cycle assessment, digitalisation, additive manufacturing, automation, robotics, and clean energy.

After finishing my education at Birmingham, I spent 18 years in Singapore as an academic and co-founder of the Advanced Remanufacturing & Technology Centre. I also had the opportunity to engage in my passion for STEM and worked closely with the Singapore Science Centre on a number of exhibitions and competitions including the National Science Challenge- a televised competition which I was a Judge for 12 years. Returning to the UK I joined the University of Strathclyde as a joint appointee with the National Physical Laboratory where I was the Science Lead for Additive Manufacturing. The past few years have focused on activities around the end-of-life strategies for commercial aircraft and wind turbines helping to develop both solutions and develop supply chains.

Qualifications

  • PgDip Teaching in Higher Education, National Institute of Education, Singapore, 2001
  • PhD In Mechanical Engineering, 黑料吃瓜网, 2000
  • MSc(Eng) in Integrated Quality Systems, 黑料吃瓜网, 1992
  • BEng(Hons) in Manufacturing Engineering & Economics, 黑料吃瓜网, 1992

Biography

Prior to re-joining Birmingham in September 2023, I spent the previous 6 years in the University of Strathclyde where I led a team of 16 PhD students and 12 Research staff on a variety of projects including end-of-life extension of wind turbines, supporting companies on their net zero journey, aircraft decommissioning, developing visualisation solutions. In total over £ 4 million in funding was secured.  During my time in Strathclyde I held a number of joint appointments with the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) where I was the Science Lead for Additive Manufacturing.

From 1999 to 2018, I was an Associate Professor at the Nanyang Technological University. In 2011, I was tasked with establishing the Advanced Remanufacturing & Technology Centre (ARTC) which has now grown to over 250 staff.  In Singapore I supervised 8 PhD students, over 50 Masters dissertations and approximately 160 final year projects. Apart from academic activities I was involved in establishing and advising the TEDxNTU Conference which attracted over 1600 participants at its most recent event. From 2003 to 2015 I was the Chief Judge on the televised National Science Challenge - a competition aimed at 15-year olds to encourage their interest in STEM.

Postgraduate supervision

Research interests

Sustainable manufacturing, life cycle assessment, remanufacturing, surface engineering, circular economy business models,

Current projects

The establishment of consortium for the end-of-life of wind turbines.

Other activities

  • Founding team member of TEDxNTU in 2011. It has successfully run an event annually garnering up to 1800 attendees.
  • UK representative – International Committee on Abrasive Technology
  • UK Member -I EC PT61400-24-2 working group on establishing an end-of-life strategy for wind turbines.
  • External Examiner – Sports Technology degrees, Loughborough University

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Karami, R, Butler, D, Javadi, Y & Tamimi, S 2025, '', Materials Characterization, vol. 224, 115002.

Karami, R, Butler, D, Javadi, Y & Tamimi, S 2024, '', MATEC Web of Conferences, vol. 401, 02011.

Preedakorn, K, Butler, D & Mehnen, J 2023, '', Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 12, 9470.

Khun, NW, Trung, PQ, Yeetan, AW, Sun, W, Liu, E & Butler, DL 2023, '', Tribology in Industry, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 472-486.

Khun, NW, Trung, PQ & Butler, DL 2021, '', Engineering Research Express, vol. 3, no. 1, 015031.

Fu, S, Cheng, F, Tjahjowidodo, T, Zhou, Y & Butler, D 2018, '', Sensors (Switzerland), vol. 18, no. 8, 2657.

Kum, CW, Sato, T, Guo, J, Liu, K & Butler, D 2018, '', International Journal of Mechanical Sciences, vol. 141, pp. 189-197.

Trung, PQ, Butler, DL & Idapalapati, S 2018, '', Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology, Transactions of the ASME, vol. 140, no. 4, 041006.

Trung, PQ, Khun, NW & Butler, DL 2018, '', Journal of Engineering Materials and Technology, Transactions of the ASME, vol. 140, no. 1, 011013.

Chapter

Klahn, C, Butler, D & Pei, E 2023, . in E Pei, A Bernard, D Gu, C Klahn, M Monz贸n, M Petersen & T Sun (eds), Springer Handbook of Additive Manufacturing. 1 edn, Springer Handbooks, Springer, pp. 31-42.

Butler, D & Smith, J 2023, . in E Pei, A Bernard, D Gu, C Klahn, M Monz贸n, M Petersen & T Sun (eds), Springer Handbook of Additive Manufacturing. 1 edn, Springer Handbooks, Springer, pp. 821-832.

Butler, D & Woolliams, P 2020, . in Precision Metal Additive Manufacturing. pp. 133-156.

Conference contribution

Crocco, B, Imbrogno, S, Tamimi, S, Attallah, M & Butler, D 2021, . in Euro PM2021 Congress Proceedings. Euro PM Proceedings, European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA), 2021 European Powder Metallurgy Congress and Exhibition, Euro PM 2021, Virtual, Online, 18/10/21. <>

Review article

Karami, R, Butler, D & Tamimi, S 2024, '', The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, vol. 133, no. 3-4, pp. 1083-1109.

Paterson, L, Miscandlon, J & Butler, D 2024, '', Sustainability, vol. 16, no. 7, 2681.