Doctoral student Ayşe Begüm Kılıç Ararat recently presented her PhD research at the 'Discover Automation' event from UK Warehousing Association (UKWA) and Wise Robotics.

The event brought together practitioners from the field of warehousing who were interested in automation, in order to explore the growing impact of robotics. Attendees toured the demonstration centre to see the capabilities of Wise Robotics' technology, before hearing from Begum and other speaker Rueben Scriven, a Senior Analyst at Interact Analysis.

Begum's talk focused on the human side of automation, exploring how and why people use physical warehouse automation technologies, as well as how and why they don't. Her research helps explain why companies might be interested in investing in robotics as well as what the challenges are, both before and after implementation.

Her contributions are quite rare in the field of robotics. The majority of the warehousing literature focuses on the technical aspects, whereas she is interested in how people respond to these technologies. This is of special interest to a practitioner audience, as it helps them understand their customers better.

Begum said, "I was really glad to have the opportunity to share my research at this event. Not only to help support the industry but also because it gave me the experience of presenting to a practitioner audience rather than an academic one. I've also collected a lot of notes from the other talks, which will make some interesting contributions to my PhD."

Begum hopes to continue collaborating with both UK Warehousing and Wise Robotics in the future.