Dr Matthew Watkins

  • Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Product Design Engineering
Publications

Background

Matthew joined the Wolfson School in January 2024 as a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Product Design Engineering. Prior to this Matthew worked as a Principal Lecturer and postgraduate courses manager in Engineering (2021-2023) and Senior Lecturer in Product Design (2012-2021) at Nottingham Trent University. Formerly, he held academic roles at the University of Hertfordshire as Visiting Lecturer (2010-2013) and Part-time Lecturer at De Montfort University (2011-2012). Matthew has also been an external examiner and external verifier on Product Design courses at the University of Northampton, Aston University and London South Bank University. 

Qualifications and awards

Matthew is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and Member of the Institute of Engineering Designers (MIED). 

Matthew holds a PhD in Sustainable Product Design Education from º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ (2014), a PGCE in Secondary Design Technology Education (2005), an MSc in Rapid Product Development (2004) and a BSc in Industrial Design Engineering (2003) from De Montfort University.  

Research interests

Matthew’s research concerns Sustainable Product Design and Road Safety, particularly addressing user behaviours, attitudes, education, and training: 

  • Sustainable Product Design
  • Product Lifetimes
  • Product Repair and Reuse
  • Lifecycle analysis
  • End of life disposal routes for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) 

Safety of active travel/vulnerable road users:  

  • Road sharing concerns particularly around HGV’s 
  • Air pollution impact on riders and pedestrians in urban commuting
  • Adaptive road signage and road safety education 

External Activities: 

  • Committee member - Product Lifetimes and the Environment (PLATE) conference.
  • Guest editor for Resources, Conservation and Recycling Journal. Special issue on Product Lifetimes.
  • Reviewer and Chair for the Engineering and Product Design Education (E&PDE) conference since 2015. 

Grants and contracts

  • 2019 – 2024: Principal Investigator – Development of vulnerable road user safety training concerning HGV’s risks. £107K Industry funded.
  • 2021 – 2022: Principal Investigator – HGV incidents Insurance Data analysis. Industry funded Supplement £9.9K
  • 2018: Principal Investigator – Exchanging Places, Cycle Safety around Construction Vehicles. Industry funded consultancy £12K.

Teaching responsibilities

  • WSA505: Integrating Studies, Part A, module tutor. 
  • WSB504: Application of Product Design, Part B, module tutor.
  • WSD407: Sustainable Product Design, Part D, module tutor.
  • BEng/MEng/MSc individual projects. 

Administrative responsibilities

  • WSC501 & WSD551 (PDE) Integrated Individual Projects (module leader)

External collaborators

Matthew has Research, Teaching and Enterprise links with industry, charities, local government, and international universities and welcomes further opportunities.  

  • The National Trust
  • Tarmac CRH
  • Nottingham City Council (NCC)
  • Nottinghamshire County Council 
  • Via East Midlands
  • McGee 

Academic

  • TU Delft
  • Hogeschool Rotterdam
  • Universitat Politècnica de València
  • Effat university