Professor Birkett joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at Northumbria University in 2011. Prior to this he worked in the manufacturing industry for sixteen years, where he completed a Craft Apprenticeship before moving on to work as a Manufacturing Engineer and then a Senior Research and Development Engineer, primarily working on the development of new thin film materials and processes. During this period, he also studied on a part-time basis for a BEng (Hons) degree in Manufacturing Systems Engineering and a PhD degree in the area of thin film materials and coatings.  

Professor Birkett currently leads the Engineering Materials and Mechanics Group (EM²G) and he mainly teaches on the Mechanical Engineering degree programmes in the areas of materials and manufacturing technology and systems. His research is focussed on the development of new thin film materials and coatings for mechanical, electrical and biomedical applications and has been funded by the European Commission, The Leverhulme Trust, EPSRC, The British Academy, The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 and several industrial collaborators.

Professor Birkett is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE), a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a member of the EPSRC, UKRI FLF/Talent and Leverhulme Trust Peer Review Colleges.