Dr Shoaib Sarfraz PhD, MIET, AFHEA

Dr Shoaib Sarfraz

Department of Mechanical Engineering
MTC Manufacturing Futures Fellow

Contact details

Address
Sustainable Manufacturing Group
School of Engineering
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr Shoaib Sarfraz is an MTC Manufacturing Futures Fellow at the University of Birmingham, dedicated to advancing Sustainable Manufacturing practices through innovative research and collaboration. He is focused on developing manufacturing solutions that minimise environmental impacts, emphasising sustainable processes to reduce the overall environmental footprint.

Shoaib has published over 50 research papers in major international journals and internationally refereed conferences. He has supervised more than 20 Masters students to completion.

His key research interests include Sustainable Manufacturing, Circular Economy, Energy Efficiency, Benchmarking, Advanced Manufacturing, Environmental Impact Assessment, Cost Modelling and Process Optimisation.

Qualifications

  • Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (MIET)
  • Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA)
  • PhD in Manufacturing, Cranfield University, 2021
  • MRes in Industrial and Manufacturing, University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxila, 2016
  • BEng (Hons) in Industrial Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology (UET), Taxila, 2014

Biography

Before joining Birmingham, Shoaib served as a Research Fellow at Cranfield University on the TransFIRe (Transforming Foundation Industries Research) project. His work focused on mapping resource use in UK foundation industries and transferring best practices in these industries to enhance resource use (energy, materials, water) and reduce negative environmental impacts in line with the Net Zero 2050 Agenda. From 2021 to 2022, Shoaib worked with Grundfos in Denmark on the project “Ecodesign Tools for Data-Driven Sustainable Production of Circulation Pumps”.

Postgraduate supervision

I welcome motivated doctoral candidates who are passionate about advancing sustainable and future-oriented manufacturing. My supervision areas include Sustainable and Resource-Efficient Manufacturing, Industrial Decarbonisation, Circular Economy and Ecodesign, Smart and Energy-Efficient Manufacturing Systems, and Life-Cycle and Techno-Economic Assessment. These themes reflect a broad commitment to enabling low-carbon, circular, efficient, and digitally driven manufacturing systems.

If you are interested in pursuing research in any of these areas and would like to contribute to impactful, industry-relevant innovation within the manufacturing sector, please feel free to get in touch.

Research

Research Interests

Sustainable and Resource-Efficient Manufacturing: Developing innovative strategies that minimise waste, improve resource utilisation, and reduce environmental impacts across manufacturing systems.

Industrial Decarbonisation: Creating and evaluating technologies and methods that support the transition toward low-carbon and net-zero industrial operations.

Circular Economy and Ecodesign: Supporting practices such as reuse, recycling, remanufacturing, and sustainability-led product and system design to extend material life cycles.

Smart and Energy-Efficient Manufacturing Systems: Enhancing manufacturing performance through digitalisation, automation, data-driven decision-making, and improved energy efficiency.

Life-Cycle and Techno-Economic Assessment: Applying integrated environmental and economic evaluation methods to assess the feasibility, impact, and scalability of sustainable manufacturing technologies.

Current Research Projects

EPSRC IAA (2025-2026) – Smart Monitor for Sustainable Manufacturing Process

Shoaib is also committed to industry–academia partnerships and keen to work with organisations looking to advance sustainability, decarbonisation, and smart manufacturing innovation.

Publications

Recent publications

Article

Favero Bolson, N, Sarfraz, S, Drewniok, M, Basavaraj, A, Hafez, H, Purnell, P, Salonitis, K & Cullen, J 2025, 'Assessing minimum energy requirements and emissions for different raw material compositions in clinker production', Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability, vol. 5, no. 3, 035005. https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/adf146

Eggleston, A, Sarfraz, S, Salonitis, K, Gupta, S, Trollman, H & Jagtap, S 2025, 'Enhancing Safety Performance in UK Metal Manufacturing: A Revised Framework to Reduce Fatal Accidents', Safety, vol. 11, no. 2, 59. https://doi.org/10.3390/safety11020059

Haider, SM, hussain, A, Abbas, M, Khan, SA & Sarfraz, S 2024, 'Analysis of the Surface Quality and Temperature in Grinding of Acrylic-Based Resin', Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing, vol. 8, no. 4, 139. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp8040139

Abbas, M, Rizvi, SHM, Sarfraz, S, Raza, A, Khan, A, Loya, A & Najib, A 2024, 'Evaluation of the influence of dissolved nitrates on corrosion behaviour of ship structural steel exposed to seawater environment', Ocean Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.117268

Goher, K, Al-Ashaab, A, Sarfraz, S & Shehab, E 2023, 'An uncertainty management framework to support model-based definition and enterprise', Computers in Industry, vol. 150, 103944. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compind.2023.103944

Sherif, Z, Sarfraz, S, Jolly, M & Salonitis, K 2023, 'Greening Foundation Industries: Shared Processes and Sustainable Pathways', Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 19, 14422. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914422

Conference article

Adeyemi , O, Sarfraz, S & Salonitis, K 2024, 'Enabling Net-Zero GHG Emissions in the UK Metals and Transport Industries through a Circular Supply Chain Framework', Procedia CIRP, vol. 130, pp. 1063-1069. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2024.10.207

Sarfraz, S, Sherif, Z, Jolly, M & Salonitis, K 2024, 'Energy Benchmarking of Manufacturing Processes in Foundation Industries', Procedia CIRP, vol. 120, pp. 1428-1432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2023.09.188

Sarfraz, S, Sherif, Z, Alshammari, SS & Salonitis, K 2024, 'Navigating Circular Economy and Digitalisation: A Comparative Study of Manufacturing Strategies in the UK and Saudi Arabia', Procedia CIRP, vol. 130, pp. 1055-1062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2024.10.206

Conference contribution

Sarfraz, S, Sherif, Z, Drewniok, M, Favero Bolson, N, Cullen, J, Purnell, P, Jolly, M & Salonitis, K 2025, Potentials for Energy Savings and Carbon Dioxide Emissions Reduction in Cement Industry. in H Kohl, G Seliger, F Dietrich & S Mur (eds), Sustainable Manufacturing as a Driver for Growth: Proceedings of the 19th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, December 4–6, 2023, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, pp. 765–773, 19th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 4/12/23. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-77429-4_85

Sarfraz, S, Sherif, Z, Jolly, M & Salonitis, K 2024, Benchmarking of Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions in Cement Production: A Case Study. in C Iloeje, S Alam, D Post Guillen, F Tesfaye, L Zhang, SAC Hockaday, NR Neelameggham, H Peng, N Haque, O Yücel & A Abdullahi Baba (eds), Energy Technology 2024: Carbon Dioxide Management and Other Technologies. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series, Springer, pp. 53–65, TMS 2024 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Orlando, Florida, United States, 3/03/24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-50244-6_5

Alshammari, SS, Sarfraz, S, Ani, UD, Okorie, O & Salonitis, K 2024, Digital Capability as an Enabler of Circular Economy in Saudi Arabia's Manufacturing Sector. in Proceedings of the ICSDI 2024 Volume 3: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sustainability: Developments and Innovations. vol. 3, Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol. 558, Springer, pp. 55–62, 2nd International Conference on Sustainability, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18/02/24. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-8345-8_8

Sarfraz, S, Jolly, M & Salonitis, K 2023, The Use of Gentani Approach for Benchmarking Resource Efficiency in Manufacturing Industries. in H Kohl, G Seliger & F Dietrich (eds), Manufacturing Driving Circular Economy: Proceedings of the 18th Global Conference on Sustainable Manufacturing, October 5-7, 2022, Berlin. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, Springer, pp. 457–463, 18th Global Conference on
Sustainable Manufacturing, Berlin, Germany, 5/10/22. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28839-5_51

Sarfraz, S, Sherif, Z, Jolly, M & Salonitis, K 2023, Towards framework development for benchmarking energy efficiency in foundation industries: a case study of granulation process. in New Directions in Mineral Processing, Extractive Metallurgy, Recycling and Waste Minimization: An EPD Symposium in Honor of Patrick R. Taylor. The Minerals, Metals & Materials Series, Springer, pp. 245–256. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22765-3_23

Review article

Sherif, Z, Sarfraz, S, Jolly, M & Salonitis, K 2025, 'A Critical Review of the Decarbonisation Potential in the U.K. Cement Industry', Materials, vol. 18, no. 2, 292. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma18020292

View all publications in research portal