Curriculum Vitae
Matthew Shields
Pragmatic engineer and leader, with a mechanical background and experience in the field of localisation, motion analysis and georeferencing.
Now working on research into the applications of mobile manipulators for non-destructive testing and evaluation of composite aerospace structures.
I have interests in localisation, perception, flexible approaches to robot task and work flow definitions, exploiting robotic platform heterogeneity and multi-robot orchestration, particularly for semi-structured and unstructured, outdoor and indoor use cases in agriculture, forestry and manufacturing environments.
Technical Skills & Tools
Robotics
Data Analysis and Modelling
Survey and Mapping
Mechanical Design
- CAD - OnShape, Solidworks, CATIA v4-5
- Modelling - GT-Suite, ANSYS, LS-DYNA
- Testing and Analysis - AVL Concerto
- Stress Analysis
- Material Testing
Employment History
Postgraduate Researcher - University of Strathclyde - Centre for Ultrasonic Engineering | Glasgow 2023-Current
Chief Technology Officer - Kingdom Technologies Ltd. | Glasgow 2020-2022
- Leadership
- Delivery of a mobile robotic platform from an early stage concept to having multiple robots deployed internationally with customers
- Business analytics and operational strategy decision making with a focus on doing the right thing at the right time for the business
- Planning a development and feature delivery roadmap for multiple mobile robotics platforms
- Acting as a head for the software team, coming up with specifications, detailing implementation and managing delivery of projects
- Aligning early stage development with the needs for product certification
- Developing robot deployment risk assessments and risk mitigation strategies
- Investigation and selection of manufacturing and assembly partners
- Developing an interviewing and hiring pipeline
- Hiring various technical roles across multiple disciplines (electronics, mechanical and software)
- Conducting personal development and performance reviews with each member of the R&D team
- Creating a collaborative and open work environment with various platforms for technical reflection and discussion
- Technical
- Human in the loop operational work flow design and robot behaviour control software implementation
- Creation of a serverless, event based system to monitor and track KPIs for a mixed fleet of robots
- Design and implementation of a cloud fleet management solution
- Implementation of a low latency video streaming and remote control system for remote supervision of robots anywhere in the world
Senior Positioning and Sensor Fusion Engineer - Kingdom Technologies Ltd. | Glasgow 2020-2020
- Mobile robot kinematic design and weight distribution optimisation for off-road outdoor environments
- Robot prototyping and manufacture of developmental prototypes for agile hardware development
- GNSS and inertial hardware evaluation and software implementation
- Navigation sensor fusion software implementation
- Perception hardware selection and software stack
- LiDAR calibration software
- Object classification using 2D LiDAR
- Object classification using computer vision and ML deployed on edge devices
- RaaS infrastructure network setup and systems administration
Application Engineer - Oxford Technical Solutions Ltd. | Heyford / International 2016-2020
- Defining and capturing client specifications on a range of international projects
- Planning and delivering custom projects for external and internal customers
- Projects spanning vehicle dynamics, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS/ NCAP/ NHTSA), autonomous driving, survey/mapping, defence and aerospace
- Some projects from my time here include:
- Delivering accurate attitude estimation of the Mars Perseverance “scarecrow” rover through remote assistance, as well as on site at NASA JPL
- Custom INS for slip angle estimation with a prominent Formula 1 team
- Localisation system integration for a prominent all autonomous racing series
- Implementation of the hardware and software systems for scoring the first SAE Autodrive Competition
- Contributed as a subject matter expert on active safety test and validation systems as part of the working group for ISO 22133 “Road vehicles — Test object monitoring and control for active safety and automated/autonomous vehicle testing”
- GNSS and inertial measurement hardware evaluation and software implementation
- Instance segmentation and localisation of road markings using LiDAR and an INS
- LiDAR SLAM and INS sensor fusion for localisation
- Development of a range of tools for localisation data processing
- Design for manufacture
- Vibration analysis and FEA
- Writing test procedures, work instructions and reports
- Feeding back observations from field work and client visits to inform the future core product roadmap
- Technical and business data analysis, presentation and communication
Engine Design Validation Engineer - Alten UK Ltd. | London / Whitley 2015-2016
- Facilitate and report on validation testing, engine strips and component analysis
- Oversee the engine tear down, component cataloging and grading procedure
- Engine testing, fault diagnosis and data analysis
- Ensure test procedures are accurately followed and test validity is upheld
- Test planning and organisation
- Managing off site tests and liaising with other external test houses
- Liaising with component owners and designers as to the outcomes of tests
Education
- MEng Motorsport Engineering Distinction - Oxford Brookes University | Oxford 2011-2015 | IMechE Accredited
- Engineering Foundation - Oxford Brookes University | Oxford 2010-2011
- IMI Automotive NVQ Levels 2 and 3 - Renault Training Academy | Doncaster 2008-2009
- City & Guilds Automotive NVQ Levels 1 and 2 - Furness College | Barrow-in-Furness 2006-2007
Courses
- Linear Algebra - Oxford University | Oxford 2019
- Racecar Data Acquisition & Analysis - Jorge Segers / SAE | Birmingham 2018
- Lean and Six Sigma Webinar - IMechE | Remote 2017
- Driving Innovation & Problem Solving Webinar - IMechE | Remote 2017
- DS101 Statistical Thinking for Data Science and Analytics - edX | Remote 2016-2017
- DS102 Machine Learning for Data Science and Analytics - edX | Remote 2016-2017
Personal Interests
Strength Sports | Outdoor Pursuits | Reading | Making Music | Photography