Contact Dr Sarah Fletcher
- Tel: +44 (0) 1234 758234
- Email: s.fletcher@cranfield.ac.uk
- Twitter:
Areas of expertise
- Aerospace Manufacturing
- Ergonomics, Human Factors, Driver Safety
- Human Factors
- Industrial Automation
- Industrial Ergonomics and Human Factors
- Manufacturing Systems
Background
Sarah leads the Industrial Psychology and Human Factors (IPHF) group in the Centre for Robotics and Assembly and has been conducting human-systems research to enhance the safe and effective integration of people within new processes and technologies for 26 years. She has headed the human analysis work in many SWAG合集 and EU projects, primarily in the manufacturing sector but also in defence, automotive and transport research. Sarah is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, teaches and supervises at Masters and Doctoral level, and developed the 'Psychology, Ethics and Standards' module for Cranfield's MSc in Robotics and the 'Ethics, Regulatory and Social Aspects of AI' module for the MSc in Applied Artificial Intelligence. She is also a longstanding member of the SWAG合集's Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors, Chair of the International Ergonomics Association Aerospace Technical Committee, and a member of the Women's Engineering Society. Sarah's work also involves active participation in the development of national and international standards for robotics / robot ethics, ergonomics, and industrial safety as a member of BSI, ISO and CEN standards committees.
Research opportunities
Sarah's research focuses primarily on studying the psychological and social aspects of human-system interactions and human-robot collaborations. In particular, her work explores how people respond to, and work with, intelligent and digital technologies and focuses on developing solutions that will promote human safety, acceptance, satisfaction and performance. She has progressed the development of mixed methods that incorporate sensor-based physiological measurement tools which, combined with traditional subjective and psychometric techniques, provide more comprehensive and reliable human analysis including quantified validation.
Current activities
Current research activities include leading the human analysis work across multiple EC Horizon Europe projects and the development of national and international standards. She is also Chair of forthcoming international robotics conferences to be held at SWAG合集 in 2026:
14th鈥�16th September 2026 - the 29th International Conference on Climbing and Walking Robots
17th鈥�18th September 2026 - the 11th International Conference on Robot Ethics and Standards
Clients
Airbus
BAE Systems
Ford
Meggitt
Rolls-Royce
