Steven Grainger

Dr. Steven Grainger is Director of Learning & Teaching in the School of Mechanical Engineering and Program Coordinator for Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide. With industry experience prior to academia, he joined the university in 2007 following a 10-year lecturing position at Glasgow Caledonian University. His international academic engagements include visiting lectureships in Oman, Russia, Germany, and Australia.

His research focuses on:

• Nanopositioning systems and piezoelectric actuator modeling
• Autonomous robotics with emphasis on underwater vehicles
• Bio-inspired systems and constructive neural networks
• Multi-robot coordination strategies

Publication analysis reveals strong emphasis on mechatronic systems (45%), bio-inspired algorithms (30%), and mechanical fault diagnosis (25%). Recent works demonstrate increasing focus on biologically-inspired robotics and multi-agent systems. Research collaborations span nine institutions across Australia, UK, and Sweden including the Australian Maritime College and Lund University.

As Program Coordinator, he oversees mechatronics curriculum development and supervises postgraduate research. Laboratory activities integrate computational modeling with hardware implementation for autonomous platforms.