Overview

BIO

I am open to highly motivated PhDs and Visiting Scholars (see my research interests below). Send me an email with the necessary information. 

I am a Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow and a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Manufacturing in the Department of Engineering, Systems, Processes and Data-Centric Engineering Section, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy (ESE), the University of Exeter. My research concerns digitally enabled remanufacturing in operations and supply chains, as well as developments of novel circular business models and solutions for more sustainable, resilient and better-performing manufacturing processes, products and services.

For the 2022/2023 Academic Year, I am the Module Leader for the Sustainable Manufacturing (ENGM023) and Design, Innovation & Entrepreneurship (ENGM026) modules. I was the Acting Programme Director MSc Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation during the 2022/2023 academic year. I am also a guest Lecturer at the Exeter Business School supporting colleagues in teaching in area of Sustainable Business. I am currently pursing my Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE) qualification. I hold an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education (AFHEA, 2023).

Before joining the Department of Engineering I worked as an EPSRC Senior Research Fellow in Circular Technology at the Exeter Centre for Circular Economy (ECCE), University of Exeter Business School (2021-2022), a Research Fellow at ECCE (2019-2021), and a Research Assistant in the School of Water, Energy and Environment, Cranfield University (2019). In these Post-Doctoral roles, I led the research in the development of novel solutions in employing data-driven intelligence to optimise the selection of Circular Economy strategies for products as well as defining the modes and timings of intervention in the product lifecycle. I have also held external positions outside the United Kingdom, as a Visiting Research Academic Scholar in Remanufacturing at the Rochester Institute of Technology, New York. Overall, I have worked on large collaborative projects and industry-oriented projects funded by the EPSRC, GW4 and British Council/ Newton Fund, collaborating with Airbus, Rolls Royce, Phillips (Signify), Techbuyer, PSS Remanufacturers amongst others. I have been a Co-I on two SPRITE+ EPSRC (EP/S035869/1) projects and I am a member of the Exeter Academic Steering Group. In 2021, I was selected as one of the 30 selected future research leaders of the GW4 region in the GW4 Crucible 2021 cohort. I was recently awarded a 5 year Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship for my study, "A novel circular economy-modelling approach to achieving net zero manufacturing" by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

I hold a BEng (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria and an MSc in Engineering Management from the University of South Wales, United Kingdom. I completed my PhD (Manufacturing) at the Sustainable Manufacturing Systems Centre, Cranfield University. From my PhD, I won a Best Poster Award at the Network Plus: Industrial Systems in the Digital Age Conference and a Cranfield University 3MT Award (2018). My PhD research was focused on integrating digitisation with the circular economy where I examined the data-enabled decision-making process in the remanufacturing of sensor-embedded products. This work utilised a mixed-method approach, employing system dynamics modelling tool as well as qualitative research methods. I regularly publish and present my work at conferences and industry-based webinars.

Previous work experience includes Condition Monitoring Analyst and Asset Care Maintenance Planning Engineer at Diageo Nigeria (Guinness Nigeria Plc). Here I led projects including integrating maintenance planning with condition monitoring analysis and logistics, adoption of SAP from Maximo for maintenance planning as well as the design of new warehousing facilities. I have also worked as a Supply Chain Development Analyst for Damco, United Kingdom. I am an IMechE Chartered Engineer and a UK STEM Volunteer. 

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Sustainable Manufacturing
• Circular Economy (Quanifitication and applications within Digital Manufacturing).
• Life Cycle Assessment and Carbon Accounting
• Circular Value Chains
• Circular Business Models
• Smart Manufacturing and Remanufacturing
• Modelling and Simulation of Manufacturing Systems
• Condition Monitoring and Predictive Maintenance.
• End-of-Product Life Cycle Analysis.
• Smart Decision Support Systems.

RESEARCH PROJECTS

• Lead Researcher, Feasibility Study Research Project on “Circular 4.0: Digital Intelligence to Enable a Circular Economy” funded by EPSRC Network Plus: Industrial Systems in the digital Age (EP/ P001246). 2017-2018
• Lead Researcher, Circular 4.0: Data Driven Intelligence for Circular Economy (EP/R032041/1). 2019-2022.
• Co-Investigator (Co-I), Future Payment Systems: Data, Technology and Privacy after Covid (SPRITE+ EPSRC (EP/S035869/1) 2020-2021
• Co-Investigator (Co-I), Can human dignity be modelled in an AI-based decision support system for post-Covid health certification? (SPRITE+ EPSRC (EP/S035869/1) 2020-2021
• Exeter PI, “Technology-Enabled Circularity (TEC): Digitalisation and Sustainability in Manufacturing” (2022)
• Exeter PI, British Council Funded "Feasibility Study to Enable the Circular-Digital Transition of the Saudi Arabia Manufacturing Sector" (2023 - 2024)
• Principal Investigator, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship, " A novel circular economy-modelling approach to achieving net zero manufacturing”. (2023-2028)

CLIENTS

• PSS
• HSSMI
• Riversimple
• Cisco
• Airbus
• Rolls Royce
• Techbuyer

FUNDING BODIES

• EPSRC/UKRI
• GW4
• British Council/ Newton Fund.
• Royal Academy of Engineering (The RAEng)

NEWS/ Media

• Delivering Publishing Expertise to Junior Academics Around the World
• PhD student conduct research with PSS
• Academy announces three new Research Fellowships
• Circular economist secures prestigious Research Fellowship.
• The Conversation- Nigeria hasn’t been able to produce steel: Remanufacturing could be the solution

AWARDS AND HONOURS

• Member, the EPSRC Manufacturing and the Circular Economy Early Career Forum (Appointed 2024)
• Associate Fellow, Higher Education Academy (AFHEA). Awarded 2023.
• Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellowship (Awarded 2023)
• Project Supervisor to Miss Yagmur Kirim, Winner Philip Booth's Prize for the Best Final Year Project (Department of Engineering, 2022/2023 Graduation Year)
• GW4 Crucible 2021 Participant. (Best 30 Early Career Researchers in the UK GW4 region)
• EPSRC (SPRITE +) Funding Award X2, 2020.
• British Council/ Newton Fund Researchers Fund Award (2019)
• University of Exeter, Business School Mobility Funding Award (2019/2020)
• People’s Choice Award, Cranfield University 3 Minutes Competition. Awarded at the Cranfield Doctoral Network Annual Event, 2018.
• Best Poster (Education) Award, EPSRC Network Plus: Industrial Systems in the Digital Age, “Looking Beyond Industry 4.0”, 2017 Conference, Glasgow 2017.
• Federal Government Scholar, 2001 A recipient of the Federal Government of Nigeria Scholarship Merit Award for Undergraduate Degree Studies

EXTERNAL POSITIONS

• Research Participant, Wharton Global faculty Development Program, Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. (2020)
• Visiting Academic Scholar in Remanufacturing, Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology, New York, USA. (2019)
• Journal Reviewer: International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology, Journal of Manufacturing Systems, Journal of Remanufacturing, Journal of Cleaner Production, Sustainability, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health), Energies. (Ongoing)
• Associate Editor for Engineering Management, Frontiers in Industrial Engineering.
• Editorial Board Member,  International Journal of Sustainable Engineering
• Associate Supervisor (MSc Student, Cranfield University) (2019 – Ongoing)
• Member, Academy of Management
• Chartered Engineer, Institution of Mechanical Engineers (CEng IMechE)
• Member, Institution of Engineering and Technology
• Research Affliate | Exeter Centre for Circular Economy, Exeter Business School.
• Research Affliate | Centre for Simulation, Modelling and Analytics.
• External Examiner (PhD): Cranfield University, School of Aerospace, Transport and Manufacturing.
• External Examiner (MRes): University of Birmingham, School of Engineering.
• Judge (2024-) : STEM for Britain, British Science Week.
• Scientific Committee Member: the International Scientific Committee of the 32th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering (LCE 2025), April 7th to 9th 2025
• Poster Chair: The Operational Research Society- 12th Simulation Workshop (SW25), 31st March to 2nd April, 2025.

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Publications

_{Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.}

| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |

2023

• Russell JD, Okorie O. (2023) Accelerating the Adoption of a Circular Economy: An extended diffusion model for understanding consumer perceptions of circular economy products, The Routledge Handbook of Catalysts for a Sustainable Circular Economy, Taylor & Francis, 422-445, DOI:10.4324/9781003267492-24.
• Okorie O. (2023) Riversimple: Mobility, Handbook of the Circular Economy Transitions and Transformation, Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 385-385. [PDF]
• Okorie O, Russell JD, Salonitis K. (2023) Embodied Energy Assessment of the Remanufacturing Cleaning Process: A Proposed MRIO-Methodology Framework, Sustainable Design and Manufacturing, Springer Nature Singapore, 398-402, DOI:10.1007/978-981-19-9205-6_39. [PDF]
• Okorie O, Russell J, Cherrington R, Fisher O, Charnley F. (2023) Digital transformation and the circular economy: Creating a competitive advantage from the transition towards Net Zero Manufacturing, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, volume 189, DOI:10.1016/j.resconrec.2022.106756.

2022

• Okorie O, Russell J, Jin Y, Turner C, Wang Y, Charnley F. (2022) Removing Barriers to Blockchain use in Circular Food Supply Chains: Practitioner Views on Achieving Operational Effectiveness, Cleaner Logistics and Supply Chain, article no. 100087, DOI:10.1016/j.clscn.2022.100087. [PDF]
• Turner C, Okorie O, Oyekan J. (2022) XAI Sustainable Human in the Loop Maintenance, IFAC-PapersOnLine, volume 55, no. 19, pages 67-72, DOI:10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.09.185. [PDF]
• Mann A, Saxena P, Almanei M, Okorie O, Salonitis K. (2022) Environmental Impact Assessment of Different Strategies for the Remanufacturing of User Electronics, Energies, volume 15, DOI:10.3390/en15072376.
• Turner C, Okorie O, Emmanouilidis C, Oyekan J. (2022) Circular production and maintenance of automotive parts: An Internet of Things (IoT) data framework and practice review, Computers in Industry, volume 136, pages 103593-103593, article no. 103593, DOI:10.1016/j.compind.2021.103593. [PDF]
• Okorie O, Russell J. (2022) Exploring the Risks of Blockchain and Circular Economy Initiatives in Food Supply Chains: A Hybrid Model Practice Framework, KES-SDM: Proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Design and Manufacturing, Split, Croatia, 15th - 17th Sep 2021, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-981-16-6128-0, volume 262, no. -, pages 290-303, DOI:10.1007/978-981-16-6128-0_28.

2021

• Sun K, Esnaola I, Okorie O, Charnley F, Moreno M, Tiwari A. (2021) Data-driven modeling and monitoring of fuel cell performance, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, volume 46, no. 66, pages 33206-33217, DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2021.05.210.
• Okorie O, Charnley F, Salonitis K. (2021) Remanufacturing and refurbishment in the age of Industry 4.0: an integrated research agenda, Sustainable Manufacturing, Elsevier, 87-107, DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-818115-7.00001-8.
• Okorie O, Obi M, Russell J, Charnley F, Salonitis K. (2021) A Triple Bottom Line examination of Product Cannibalisation and Remanufacturing: A Review and Research Agenda, Sustainable Production and Consumption, DOI:10.1016/j.spc.2021.02.013. [PDF]
• Okorie O, Charnley F, Russell J, Tiwari A, Moreno M. (2021) Circular Business Models in High Value Manufacturing: Five Industry Cases to Bridge Theory and Practice, Business Strategy and the Environment, DOI:10.1002/bse.2715.
• Kahupi I, Eiríkur Hull C, Okorie O, Millette S. (2021) Building competitive advantage with sustainable products – A case study perspective of stakeholders, Journal of Cleaner Production, volume 289, pages 125699-125699, article no. 125699, DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125699. [PDF]

2020

• Okorie O, Russell J, Charnley F. (2020) The reuse economy for digital technologies: A rapid review, Conference of the International Society for the Circular Economy, University Of Exeter, Exeter, University, 6th - 7th Jul 2020, Proceedings of the IS4CE2020 Conference of the International Society for the Circular Economy.
• Turner C, Okorie O, Emmanouilidis C, Oyekan J. (2020) A Digital Maintenance Practice Framework for Circular Production of Automotive Parts, IFAC Workshop on Advanced Maintenance Engineering, Service and Technology.
• Okorie O, Subramoniam R, Charnley F, Patsavellas J, Widdifield D, Salonitis K. (2020) Manufacturing in the Time of COVID-19: An Assessment of Barriers and Enablers, IEEE Engineering Management Review, volume 48, no. 3, pages 167-175, DOI:10.1109/emr.2020.3012112. [PDF]
• Okorie O, Charnley F, Ehiagwina A, Tiwari D, Salonitis K. (2020) Towards a simulation-based understanding of smart remanufacturing operations: a comparative analysis, Journal of Remanufacturing, volume 14, no. 1, pages 45-68, DOI:10.1007/s13243-020-00086-8. [PDF]

2019

• Okorie OS, Charnley F, Salonitis K. (2019) A Framework to Support a Simulation-Based Understanding of Digitalisation in Remanufacturing Operations, International Conference on Remanufacturing, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 23rd - 25th Jun 2019.
• Charnley F, Tiwari D, Hutabarat W, Moreno M, Okorie OS, Tiwari A. (2019) Simulation to Enable a Data-Driven Circular Economy, Sustainability, volume 11, DOI:10.3390/su11123379. [PDF]
• Okorie OS, Salonitis K, Charnley F, Moreno M, Turner C, Tiwari A. (2019) Manufacturing Data for the Implementation of Data-Driven Remanufacturing for the Rechargeable Energy Storage System in Electric Vehicles, Sustainable Design and Manufacturing 2018, Springer International, 277-289.

2018

• Okorie O, Turner C, Salonitis K, Charnley F, Moreno M, Tiwari A, Hutabarat W. (2018) A Decision-Making Framework for the Implementation of Remanufacturing in Rechargeable Energy Storage System in Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, Procedia Manufacturing, volume 25, pages 142-153, DOI:10.1016/j.promfg.2018.06.068.
• Okorie OS, Salonitis K, Charnley F, Turner C. (2018) A Systems Dynamics Enabled Real-Time Efficiency for Fuel Cell Data-Driven Remanufacturing, Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing, volume 2, DOI:10.3390/jmmp2040077. [PDF]
• Okorie OS, Salonitis K, Charnley F, Moreno MM, Turner C, Tiwari A. (2018) Digitisation and the Circular Economy: A Review of Current Research and Future Trends, Energies, volume 11, DOI:10.3390/en11113009. [PDF]

2017

• Okorie OS, Turner C, Charnley F, Moreno M, Tiwari A. (2017) A review of data driven approaches for circular economy in manufacturing, 18th European Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (ERSCP), 1-5 October 2017,, Skiathos Island, Greece, 1st - 5th Oct 2017, https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/13604.

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