Samantha Islam

Samantha Islam is University Lecturer in Engineering for Net Zero in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester. She formerly held a postdoctaral research position in an UKRI funded project, contributing to the innovation of a new biopolymer, in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. Before taking up this role, Samantha pursued her PhD in the same institution affiliated with St John's College (University of Cambridge), with Cambridge Trust and Commonwealth scholarship, seeking to improve sustainability in production systems with a data transparency tool known as 'traceability'. In addition, she performed a researcher role at the University of New South Wales and her Masters by research at Monash University in Australia and Malaysia, studying how industrial sustainability can be achieved at product, process and system levels. Samantha is an Industrial engineer by practice, with a BSc from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). 

Samantha's research interest lies in the engineering of industrial systems, capable of the creation and delivery of goods and services at the minimum environmental, social and economic impact. To do so, two main approaches are used: effective consumption of resources, and efficiency improvement of processes. The area of interest includes but not limited to:

• Industrial decarbonisation
• Circular economy
• Petrochemical plastics
• Biodegradable polymers
• Food and agricultural systems

The tools and techniques, applied for the research includes:

• Life cycle assessment (LCA)
• Material flow analysis (MFA)
• Multi criteria decision making (MCDM)
• Mathmatical modelling and optimisation
• Process mapping
• Information science

Manufacturing Systems (MECH 42071/62071 )