Professor Paul Maropoulos graduated in Mechanical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and completed his MSc and PhD at UMIST, UK. Prior to joining Queen’s Prof Maropoulos has held Professorial appointments at the Universities of Durham, Bath (where he also served as Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering), and Aston (where he also served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise). He is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and has a strong influence in the engineering profession in the UK as Board member of the Manufacturing Industries Division of the IMechE. He maintains an international research profile as Fellow of the International Academy of Production Engineering (CIRP) which is the premier global academy in manufacturing research and is the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Engineering Manufacture, Part B of the Proceedings of the IMechE. He has working links with research and innovation centres in many parts of the world, including; Centres of the Fraunhofer Society, the Academy of Sciences in Hungary and top Universities in the USA and China. His research interests include digital manufacturing, manufacturing processes, design verification, measurement enabled production and supply chain readiness with funding from EPSRC, Innovate UK, ERDF and EU as well as blue-chip companies, like Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Caterpillar, Nissan, Thorn Lighting and Renishaw. Professor Maropoulos has led major initiatives in technology development and capability enhancement working with SMEs, as well as strategic initiatives to enhance business productivity and manufacturing competitiveness of industry sectors.