Research profile

Kjeld Nielsen's main research area is reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS), with expert knowledge in metrics for mass customization and product and production architecture. His current research increasingly integrates principles of circular manufacturing, aiming to design flexible production systems that support sustainable product lifecycles, reuse, and resource efficiency.

Since 2009, Kjeld has been a full-time academic at Aalborg University. Prior to this, he accumulated over 25 years of experience as a practitioner, entrepreneur, manager, and business angel in privately-owned ICT companies. This background has provided him with extensive expertise in innovation management and entrepreneurship, both theoretically and practically, which he now applies to the development of green and circular production strategies.

Since 2013, Kjeld has led the Mass Customization research group at the Department of Materials and Manufacturing, Aalborg University. Under his leadership, the group explores how modular product and production architectures can enable circularity, reduce waste, and extend product lifespans through reconfigurable and adaptive manufacturing systems.