Latest from the Academy
Academy responds to transitional measures proposed in the event of non-association to Horizon Europe
Academy President Sir Jim McDonald said the strong preference of the Academy and the wider global research and innovation community is for the UK to associate with Horizon Europe – the EU’s research and innovation funding programme.
Boeing and Royal Academy of Engineering celebrate seven years of supporting STEM Teachers
Seven-year partnership hits new milestones as over half a million students benefit from STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) engagement and Boeing donations reach £500,000.
Team behind compact dialysis machine wins award for UK’s top engineering innovation of 2022
Quanta Dialysis Technologies presented with the 2022 MacRobert Award by HRH The Princess Royal
Fellows
The Fellowship of the Academy is an unrivalled community of leading business people, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics from every part of engineering and technology, who shape the Academy’s work to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy.
Gary Aitkenhead FREng Senior Vice President, EMEA Operations, Equinix
Gary Aitkenhead is Senior Vice President of Operations at Equinix where he leads the engineering, construction and operations of critical data centre infrastructure across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Gary and his team of nearly 2,000 engineers and technicians help power Equinix’s trusted global platform to bring together and interconnect the foundational infrastructure that fuels the success of customers and partners around the world.
Read moreZayeed Alam FREng European Director, Corporate Data and Modelling Sciences, Procter and Gamble
Zayeed Alam is an outstanding technical leader and for many years he has within Procter & Gamble, managed teams across Asia, Europe and North America who have developed internationally leading-edge research and development simulation capability using advanced mathematical tools. Examples of his contributions include a wide variety of developments to enable the virtual design of detergents not only in terms of manufacturing processes but also predicting performance in the wash and consumer response, optimisation of the design of spray drying towers for energy efficiency, reduction of airborne dust to minimise risk of exposure to enzymes, and optimising the design of new devices for improving air quality and fragrance delivery.
Read moreDr Jade Alglave FREng Distinguished Engineer, Arm Ltd; and Professor of Computer Science, University College London (UCL)
Professor Jade Alglave, Distinguished Engineer at Arm and Professor at UCL, developed a novel mathematical method of specifying computer memory models, an associated language (cat) and software tools (herd, diy) for writing and experimenting with the models, in tandem with Luc Maranget (INRIA, France). She has been recognised for significant industrial impact through memory models for IBM, NVidia, Heterogenous System Architecture (HSA), Arm and Linux. She navigated the complex world of hardware, low-level software, mathematical modelling techniques, tools, and various scientific and business communities to deliver an innovative series of tools and techniques. Professor Alglave won the Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation in 2014, the Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal in 2018 and the British Computer Society Roger Needham Award in 2020.
Read moreProfessor Ruth Allen FREng Independent consultant
Ruth Allen is acknowledged as a UK and international authority on asset and infrastructure management and is recognised for her pioneering contributions to these fields, alongside her passionate and groundbreaking work supporting young people in engineering. As a technical expert, consultant, entrepreneur and managing director, she has developed and grown internationally recognised asset and infrastructure management consultancy companies providing new and innovative solutions to the water, energy, roads and rail sectors in the UK and around the world. Ruth has established and developed highly successful companies working in both applied research and development as well as consultancy practices.
Read moreAlison Atkinson FREng CEO, AWE plc
Alison Atkinson is the Chief Executive Officer of AWE plc, leading the organisation on a critical mission to support the defence and security of the UK. Alison is accountable for the UK nuclear deterrent across multiple sites, given the scale and complexity, many of the operations and projects are unique in the UK, if not the world. Alison has many years’ experience in engineering – establishing, leading and managing business organisations across private and government sectors, including infrastructure, defence, nuclear, transportation, and maritime, in both the UK and overseas. Alison is recognised as a business leader and a complex programme delivery expert in highly regulated environments – and a member of defence/energy advisory groups including the UK’s fusion programme. Alison was voted the sixth most ‘Influential Female Engineer in the UK and Europe’ (FT) in 2019.
Read moreProfessor Holger Babinsky FREng Professor of Aerodynamics, University of Cambridge
Professor Holger Babinsky is a remarkable engineer because of the scope, significance, and impact of his contributions to applications ranging from jet engines to road trailers. As an experimental aerodynamicist, he is known for his contributions to the understanding of shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions, the fundamental problem of high-speed flow, and also for his work in low-speed aerodynamics where his experiments helped to clarify the origins of unsteady forces and improve the performance of road vehicles. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Royal Aeronautical Society’s (RAeS) Aeronautical Journal and Fellow of RAeS as well as the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Read moreProfessor Luke Bisby FRSE FREng Chair of Fire and Structures, Head of Research Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, University of Edinburgh
Professor Luke Bisby is distinguished as a world-leading researcher and educator in structural fire engineering. His internationally recognised work has led to a global renaissance in structural fire engineering testing, analysis and design. He is also recognised for the use of fibre-reinforced polymer composites in construction applications, in which he is the world authority on fire performance for both structural-strengthening and concrete-reinforcing applications. He has received numerous international awards for his research, teaching and service to the engineering community.
Read moreProfessor Byron Byrne FREng Ørsted / RAEng Research Chair in Advanced Geotechnical Design, University of Oxford
Professor Byron Byrne is a distinguished geotechnical engineer who has developed new design methods for the foundations of offshore wind turbines, leading to the substantial cost savings that are now enabling the expansion of this green energy technology. He has achieved this through leadership of research programmes that combine the use of advanced finite element analysis and large-scale field testing to validate new design procedures. By working closely alongside his industrial sponsors, notably Ørsted, he has ensured rapid uptake of the new ideas, leading to substantial cost savings on wind farms operating in the North Sea.
Jonathan Carling FREng CEO, Tokamak Energy Ltd; Director, Zotefoams plc
Jonathan Carling is an outstanding engineering leader, with a track record of iconic British engineering leadership in Jaguar, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce civil aero engines. In his automotive roles he had considerable experience as an engineering product innovator, leader and technical arbiter, delivering systems, products and services at the highest levels. More recently he turned his talents to Tokamak Energy, where he had technical and financial responsibility for over 120 leading engineers and physicists, delivering a number of world-firsts in the fields of fusion and superconductivity engineering.
Andrew Churchill FREng Executive Chairman, JJ Churchill Ltd
After 10 years’ international industrial and business experience, Andrew Churchill returned to lead the family engineering business in 2002. Through his vision, outstanding engineering leadership and commitment, JJ Churchill Ltd is distinctive among UK mid-sized manufacturing companies: a model of what can be achieved by pioneering, tailoring and thorough adoption of industrial digitalisation technology and processes alongside a long-term investment in people and a commitment to apprenticeships. Andrew is widely engaged with government, the engineering profession, relevant trade bodies and is recognised as a leading 'go-to' figure in UK manufacturing and precision engineering. He is committed to helping advance UK manufacturing and the mid-sized supply-chain sector.
Professor Paul P Conway FREng Professor of Manufacturing Processes, Loughborough University
Professor Paul Conway has made sustained and internationally recognised personal contributions to electronics manufacturing technology, innovating for better manufacturing process control and product design for improved quality and reliability for industry. He has led significant projects, co-created with and delivering to industry requirements, exploiting physical and materials sciences in novel ways. Paul is Dean of one of the UK’s largest engineering schools, which was created through the merger of two pre-existing schools. He is Director of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Innovative Electronics Manufacturing Research Centre and Centre for Doctoral Training in Embedded Intelligence. Paul is passionate about improving gender balance and equality in the profession and the development of early career engineers.
Professor Jian Dai FREng Professor and Chair of Mechanisms and Robotics, King’s College London
Professor Jian Dai has made a pioneering contribution to mechanical engineering, most notably by his contributions to the fundamental theory, design and applications of mechanisms and robotic systems. He is particularly noted for having introduced the concept of metamorphic and reconfigurable mechanisms that can be folded and re-erected in an origami-style approach to form mobile or multi-functional devices. Many of these mechanisms have been taken forward to commercialisation by university spin-outs and major industries. He received the DED Mechanisms and Robotics Award established in 1974 and was the 58th recipient of the most prestigious ASME Machine Design Award established in 1958.
Alice Delahunty FREng
Alice Delahunty has actively shaped the energy transition, bringing a new and passionate generation of engineers with her. Her substantial contribution to low carbon energy systems has been rooted in practical and innovative engineering solutions. From fossil-fuelled power stations to offshore wind, and from demonstrating leading-edge smart grid technologies to running the England and Wales Electricity Transmission network, Alice has evolved her career as rapidly as the market. Her passion and ability to inspire others has led to her presenting the prestigious Faraday Lecture to thousands of children and her election to the Institution of Engineering and Technology Board of Trustees.
Professor Daniele Dini FREng Professor of Tribology, Imperial College London
Professor Daniele Dini is an authoritative figure in the field of tribology. He is an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council Established Career Fellow and head of Imperial College London’s Tribology Group, currently consisting of six academics and more than 60 full-time researchers and PhDs. It is one of the largest and most renowned tribology research groups in the world, with research funding in excess of £16 million. He is active in topics ranging from solid-mechanics and the mechanics of materials, through multi-scale modelling, including soft matter physics, to biomechanics. His group performs fundamental research, often through collaborations with leading international institutions, while successfully supporting the application of tribology in industry. This has led to strong long-term interactions with industrial collaborators, such as the University Technology Centre in Fuels and Lubricants supported by the Lubricants Division of Shell plc, which he directs. Professor Dini is also the Director of Research at Imperial College London’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and the Founder and Director of TriboSim Ltd., a spin-out company that provides bespoke tribology modelling tools and services to industry.
Professor Penelope Endersby FREng Chief Executive, The Meteorological Office
Professor Penelope Endersby is an exceptional engineering leader. Throughout her career, she has made major contributions to a diverse set of engineering challenges. In 25 years at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory she left the Ministry of Defence a legacy of new capabilities in cyber and artificial intelligence through the combination of her strong engineering leadership and passion for bringing innovation to fruition. She is now Chief Executive Officer of the Met Office, delivering improved weather and climate forecasts to protect life and property at a time when climate change is reaching a critical juncture.
Mark Enzer OBE FREng Chief Technical Officer, Mott MacDonald; Director, Centre for Digital Built Britain
Mark Enzer is a keen champion of innovation and collaborative delivery models. Within this context he has made significant contributions to infrastructure engineering, particularly in the areas of digital transformation and carbon reduction. As the Chair of the Digital Framework Task Group, established by HM Treasury in 2018, Mark is the recognised national champion for the National Digital Twin agenda within the built environment. Mark was the lead author of the Infrastructure Carbon Review, published by HM Treasury in 2013, which sets out a series of actions for government and industry to reduce carbon and reduce cost in UK infrastructure.
Professor Andrea Ferrari FREng Professor of Nanotechnology, Director, Cambridge Graphene Centre, University of Cambridge
Professor Andrea Ferrari's work sits at the frontier between engineering, nanotechnology and materials science. He is a world authority on characterisation of carbon materials, including diamond-like carbon, nanotubes and graphene. His work underpins the interpretation of Raman scattering in carbon-materials and is now a worldwide standard in industry. Collaborations with industry have enabled the pull-through of sciences to technologies in several areas. He is a global leader in graphene and related materials engineering, having pioneered many areas, from mass scale identification by spectroscopic means, to their implementation in printed and flexible electronics, photodetectors, modulators, lasers, and plasmonic structures.
Elspeth Finch MBE FREng CEO, IAND
Elspeth Finch MBE is best described as a successful engineering entrepreneur and business leader. From her background as a transport planner, she has founded two technology start-ups, been a senior leader within the engineering consultancy Atkins and, alongside her current business IAND, she sits on several advisory boards, contributing her expertise to enhance and transform engineering. Her early impact was recognised with the award of an Academy Silver Medal (2013) and since then she has made an ongoing contribution to the Academy. She continues to have wider impact through membership of bodies such as the Innovation Expert Group, providing advice on driving up UK productivity through innovation.
Professor Jarmila Glassey FREng Professor of Chemical Engineering Education, Newcastle University
Professor Jarmila (Jarka) Glassey is a highly accomplished engineer who has contributed very significantly to bio-chemical research and teaching, with demonstrated translation of her research into industrial application. Jarka has contributed substantially to the development of the chemical engineering faculty at Newcastle University. Jarka has also played a major role with the Institution of Chemical Engineers as the immediate past Vice President of the Learned Society, Executive officer of the Education and Accreditation Forum and the Editor-in-Chief of Education for Chemical Engineers, having led the Institution's journal to its first Impact Factor and a top three position in engineering education. Jarka has played a major international role in furthering the influence of UK biochemical engineering education.
Neil Glover FREng Head of Materials Research, Rolls-Royce plc
Neil is Head of Materials Research at Rolls-Royce, based in Derby, and is a Fellow and current President of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. Neil has over 25 years of experience of materials engineering for aerospace and other high integrity applications. His current role is focused on materials technology to support new product opportunities in Rolls-Royce including electric and hybrid flight. Previous roles have spanned multiple business sectors and materials engineering across the product life-cycle. For many years Neil was responsible for Rolls-Royce’s aerospace materials research portfolio, including the company’s extensive external network for materials research. He is a regular speaker at national and international events and has been a member of numerous national advisory groups. He is a strong advocate of STEM education and a regular speaker at schools events.
Dr Paul Gosling FREng CTO (Chief Technical Officer), Thales UK
A leading authority on maritime combat systems, Dr Paul Gosling made decisive contributions to the development and successful introduction into service of the Royal Navy's principal sonar systems fitted to submarines and surface warships. As a Thales Fellow, he is one of approximately only 20 individuals worldwide recognised in this way for their specialist expertise. He is Chief Technology Officer to Thales UK and is the board member responsible for managing research and engineering activities across of all the company's UK activities.
Professor Edwin Hancock FREng Professor of Computer Science, University of York
Professor Edwin Hancock is distinguished for his contributions to physics-based computer vision and graph matching for scene interpretation in machine perception. His ground-breaking technical contributions to the fields of computer vision and pattern matching have had important academic and industrial impact. He has also been highly influential in development of the topic as an academic discipline.
Duncan Hawthorne FREng CEO, Horizon Nuclear Power
Duncan Hawthorne is an internationally respected expert in the energy sector with more than 40 years’ experience in plant operations (including as CEO of the world’s largest nuclear generating station), large-scale projects and major energy transactions. His experience includes acquisitions, corporate restructurings and refinancing. He has acted as a consultant to and representative of the Canadian government. He is a past Chairman of the Canadian nuclear industry, Chairman and former President of the World Association of Nuclear Operators, Chairman of the Post Fukushima External Advisory Committee of WANO, and currently serves as Chairman of the Advanced Nuclear Research Centre.
Professor Barrie Hayes-Gill FREng Professor of Medical Devices and Electronic Systems, University of Nottingham
Professor Barrie Hayes-Gill is an outstanding academic leader, researcher, translational engineer, and entrepreneur who has taken groundbreaking medical devices from laboratory to commercialisation. His work demonstrates a skilful fusion of technological innovation with in-depth knowledge of clinical need. His pioneering systems for non-invasive feto-maternal heart monitoring and hands-free heartrate monitoring of newborns are acknowledged for advancing obstetric care, expertly bridging the gap between scientific achievement and clinical practice. One of his companies, Monica Healthcare Ltd, won the Academy’s 2019 Colin Campbell Mitchell Award and the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Innovation Healthcare Award. He has demonstrated academic leadership as head of department of a global three-campus university.
Professor Peter Haynes FREng Professor of Theory & Simulation of Materials, Imperial College London
Peter Haynes is known internationally for his accomplishments in software engineering for materials modelling applications, in particular for the development of new computational tools for large-scale first-principles quantum-mechanical simulations. These have been recognised within academia and industry, notably through his leading role in the development of the ONETEP code that is marketed commercially by Dassault Systèmes BIOVIA. He is currently Head of the Department of Materials in the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London and Chair of the worldwide Psi-k Network of researchers working on the advancement of first-principles computational materials science.
Professor Jan-Theodoor Janssen FREng Chief Scientist, National Physical Laboratory
Professor Jan-Theodoor (JT) Janssen is the Chief Scientist of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). He is distinguished for the application of quantum technologies. His novel development of quantum electrical metrology systems and science placed NPL at the forefront of advances, leading to the international redefinition of the electrical measurement units in the SI system in 2019. For more than 20 years, JT has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the understanding and practical application of quantum devices and quantum effects in materials such as graphene. This work is helping the UK become a world-leader in quantum technology.
Professor Samuel Kingman FREng Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Engineering, University of Nottingham
Professor Samuel Kingman is a gifted academic with a real flair for providing industry with innovative solutions. His research is focused on developing a fundamental understanding of the interaction of microwave and electromagnetic energy with materials and how this can be used to develop energy-efficient, sustainable processes. The development of global partnerships with both academia and industry has been crucial to delivering impact from his work, successfully linking the highest quality research and innovation with an industrial supply chain. His research has been recognised by numerous awards including the Academy’s 2018 Colin Campbell Mitchell Award.
Professor Anton Kiss FREng Professor of Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester
Professor Anton Kiss is a world leader in novel eco-efficient fluid separations based on process intensification methods. He is a distinguished engineer and scientist, with over 20 years of industrial and academic experience. He has developed over 20 novel processes related to the specialty chemicals industry, for which he has nine families of patents. He has also authored or co-authored over 200 publications, 20 textbooks and book chapters. His outstanding contributions to chemical engineering were recognised with the prestigious Dutch prize Hoogewerff Jongerenprijs (2013), AkzoNobel Innovation Excellence Award (2013), Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (2017), and several other international awards.
Professor Paola Lettieri FREng Professor of Chemical Engineering and Director of UCL East, University College London
Professor Paola Lettieri is an international expert in fluidisation and life cycle assessment. Through research collaboration and consultancy she has enabled the development of new fluid-bed processes, resolved significant operational problems in complex industrial plants, and supported the design of sustainable processes. Her pioneering research on the effect of process conditions on gas fluidised beds contributed to understanding the role of interparticle forces and has been applied in industries in the chemical, petrochemical, energy and nuclear sectors. Her work in life cycle assessment has aided the development and scale up of industrial renewable energy processes, influenced waste management strategies, and determined the radiological impact of spent nuclear fuel reprocessing for the first time. She leads the development of UCL’s new campus, UCL East, where engineering dominates.
Professor James Litster FREng Vice President and Head of Faculty of Engineering, University of Sheffield
Professor James Litster is Vice President and Head of Faculty of Engineering at the University of Sheffield, having previously held major academic posts in Australia and the US. He is a world leader in the production of formulated particulate products such as pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and consumer goods. His work on wet granulation is now widely used in engineering practice to reduce development time of new products and improve quality and reliability on scale up. Jim is also an innovative educator and led the development of a new project centred curriculum in chemical engineering at the University of Queensland.
Dr Mark Little FREng VP Engineering, Red Hat
Dr Mark Little is VP of Engineering at Red Hat, the world’s largest open-source software company, recently purchased by IBM for $34 billion. He is recognised internationally, in both academia and industry, as an expert on the design of fault tolerant distributed middleware. He has 100 patents, 60 published papers, and has co-authored four books. Before Red Hat, he was the technical lead for two successful startup companies. He has played a key role in the IT economy of the North East, basing his team there, and funding research and studentships at Newcastle University, where he is a Visiting Professor.
Professor Margaret Lucas FRSE FREng Regius Chair of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Professor of Ultrasonics and Dean of Research (College of Science and Engineering), University of Glasgow
Professor Margaret Lucas is distinguished by the application of high-power ultrasound to solve industrial and medical problems, her engineering leadership and her outreach activities. She is a world leader in her research field, extending the use of ultrasound to such areas as soft and hard tissue surgeries, manufacturing, and drilling technologies for terrestrial and planetary exploration, generating significant engineering impact. She has been Dean of Research and a divisional leader at the University of Glasgow, enhancing the engineering academic environment and engaging in outreach activities that have widened participation in engineering.
Dr Andrew Lynn FREng Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Fluidic Analytics Limited
Dr Andrew Lynn is a materials engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and executive who has founded, grown and sold startup companies based on innovations in biomedical science and engineering. He has contributed directly to the establishment of four UK companies, creating more than 100 full-time jobs, raising over £40 million in equity financing and bringing multiple products to market. Dr Lynn has served on committees advising research councils and charities that guide UK policies for entrepreneurship and innovation. He has been recognised by notable awarding bodies in the UK, Europe and the USA as one of the world’s top young innovators.
Professor Rob Miller FREng Professor of Aerothermal Technology, University of Cambridge
Professor Rob Miller is Director of the Whittle Laboratory. He is exceptional for his success in solving industry problems, working closely with Rolls-Royce, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Siemens, and Dyson. He is known for his pioneering work on Rapid Technology Development, which has led to R&D times being reduced from years to months. His research has had unprecedented success in winning awards from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He founded both the EPSRC Centre of Doctoral Training in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics and the National Centre for Propulsion and Power, the UK’s hub for accelerating the path to net zero flight.
Professor Aimee Morgans FREng Professor of Thermofluids, Imperial College London
Aimee Morgans leads research on sound, flames and aerodynamics, with the aim of making energy generation and transport more environmentally friendly. She is best known for her research on thermoacoustic instability, a key barrier to low emissions gas turbines and stable rocket engines. She has developed computational prediction tools proven at industrial complexity, and feedback controllers that reliably suppress instability in large experiments. She has been a recipient of a RAEng/EPSRC Research Fellowship and two European Research Council grants on this topic. She was the first female professor in Imperial College London’s Mechanical Engineering department.
Dave Nesbitt FREng Director of Electrical and Vehicle Engineering, Jaguar Land Rover
Dave Nesbitt is currently the Director of Electrical and Vehicle Engineering at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). He has held many leadership positions throughout his career, taking on transformative roles in the mechanical, electronics and software engineering space. He is well respected by his colleagues for his technical curiosity, passion for engineering and drive to excel. One of the leaders of JLR’s digital connected car transformation, he continually pushes himself and his global team with the objectives of keeping JLR in the forefront of the automotive industry transformation and its Autonomous, Connectivity, Electrification and Shared (ACES) global automotive revolution.
Professor Catherine Noakes OBE FREng Professor of Environmental Engineering for Buildings, University of Leeds
Professor Cath Noakes is distinguished for her seminal research on infection risk in the built environment, understanding the physical mechanisms of infection transmission and engineering strategies to control risk. The impact of her research has been global, with specific and wide-reaching influence through her role on the UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) in understanding transmission of COVID-19. She has advised across government and behavioural scientists on physical mechanisms for SARS-CoV-2 virus spread, how to assess the risks of exposure in the built environment and appropriate mitigation strategies to control the virus in different work environments.
Professor Ian Noble FREng Head of Research, Analytical and Productivity - Mondelez International RDQ; Visiting Professor, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham
Dr Ian Noble is a biochemical engineer who is currently Senior R&D Director for Mondelez responsible for the company’s Research, Analytical and Productivity programmes within the Research-Development-Quality function. He has held senior technical and management positions within several major food manufacturing multinationals. He led the Emerging Snacks Technology group for PepsiCo’s Snacks business and Food Services Beverages R&D for Unilever, globally. He also holds several senior external advisory positions, is the Chair of the Food Sector KTN and is a leading UK industry advocate for the Food Manufacturing sector.
Professor Stephen O'Connor FREng Visiting Professor, Research Centre for Biomedical Engineering, School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering, City, University of London
Professor Stephen O’Connor is a chartered biomedical engineer of great distinction. He has an international reputation in the medical device industry as an expert in implantable devices and respiratory physiology. His work on implantable devices has benefited millions of patients worldwide. He has transformed the training and education of medical and technical professionals in the device industry. He advanced medical technology to improve diagnosis, therapy and most importantly patient outcomes. He has also contributed hugely to the work of professional bodies, particularly the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine, as President since 2019 and a volunteer for over three decades.
Dr (Olawale) Nelson Ogunshakin OBE FREng CEO, FIDIC, International Federation of Consulting Engineers
Dr Nelson Ogunshakin has had a wide and successful career in engineering and business – his ability to deliver is outstanding. In his previous appointment with the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE), his leadership invigorated and repositioned the association and successfully promoted engineering at the highest levels of society and politics. He was appointed to Transport for London Board (TfL) in 2016, became Turnaround Board member of Cross Rail Limited (CRL) in 2018, and chaired the investment Committee for three years, and continue to play a key role in the commissioning of the £16 bn CRL project as current TfL Board member. Dr Ogunshakin was appointed in 2018 as CEO to FIDIC, the highly influential international body regulating infrastructure projects delivery internationally through its wide and diverse membership including liaising with international funding institutions (IFIs) and Banks on a word-wide basis. He was appointed to the Board of Connected Places Catapult (CPC) in 2021 and he is currently engaged in refining and enlarging FIDIC’s credentialling programme following a major success with Chinese authorities, consultants, and contractors. He is today one of the major influencers in international infrastructure engineering.
Professor Rachel Oliver FREng Professor of Materials Science, University of Cambridge
Rachel Oliver is a world-leading materials engineer, renowned for the study and innovative applications of gallium nitride (GaN) for electronic and optoelectronic devices. She invented novel methods for the fabrication of nitride nanostructures, and her successes led to the creation of Poro Technologies Ltd, a spinout company that is bringing porous GaN to UK and International industries. She is a world leader in the development of nitrides for quantum technologies and has produced single photon emitters with unprecedented performance. She has several awards, including being named among the top 50 Women in Engineering: Sustainability on International Women in Engineering Day in 2020. She has championed diversity in engineering at the Houses of Parliament.
Jim O'Sullivan FREng Formerly Chief Executive, Highways England Ltd
Jim O’Sullivan has followed a brilliant career with leadership roles in several well-known British enterprises through periods of major engineering improvement and cultural transformation. Since becoming Chief Executive of Highways England, he has established a reputation for setting the national direction for the highways sector. He has combined the best practices from the private and public sectors to raise engineering standards, with a strong emphasis on safety, customer service and infrastructure project delivery. Highways England spends £5 billion annually. At British Airways, he was responsible for successfully returning Concorde to service after the French crash. At Transco, E.ON and Heathrow Airport he led major upgrades of engineering and safety management systems.
Professor Sebastien Ourselin FREng Head of School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London
Professor Sebastien Ourselin has gained international recognition for his engineering contributions in medical image registration, segmentation and classification. Over two decades, he has made major advances to imaging sciences, focusing on brain diseases and the robust translation of image analysis pipelines into clinical settings. His innovations have reached the clinic and commercialisation, especially in neurodegenerative diseases, neurosurgery, image-guided surgery, and surgical simulation. He has been a leading advocate for healthcare engineering in the UK and globally, leading the development of the MedTech Hub at St Thomas’ Hospital, a transformative ecosystem enabling and facilitating medtech co-creation between academia, industry and the NHS.
Professor Stephen Parkes FREng Chief Technology Officer, STAR-Dundee Ltd
Professor Stephen Parkes is an outstanding engineer and world-leading expert in spacecraft onboard data handling and processing technology. He developed and established the SpaceWire and SpaceFibre standards that are now used in hundreds of spacecraft monitoring the Earth and exploring our solar system and the universe. A University of Dundee Professor of Spacecraft Electronic Systems and Director of the Space Technology Centre until 2019, he founded STAR-Dundee Ltd in 2002, where he is now Chief Technology Officer. Professor Parkes is passionate about promoting engineering within the UK and received the Saltire Society Fletcher of Saltoun Award for outstanding contributions to science.
Professor Tiziana Rossetto FREng Professor in Earthquake Engineering, University College London
Professor Tiziana Rossetto is a structural engineer who has achieved global recognition through seminal contributions to the characterisation of building performance under natural hazards. This characterisation has emerged from a novel and multidisciplinary approach to natural hazard mitigation. Through EPICentre, which she founded, she has made this approach the industry standard, delivered new methods for experimental tsunami simulation, influenced earthquake and tsunami building codes at a global scale, and changed the insurance industry attitude towards risk modelling. She has advised governments on building regulation and influenced research strategies in engineering resilience at an international level and with transformational impact.
Andrew Rutter FREng Director and Owner, rutterddesign
Andrew Rutter is an experienced chemical engineer who has demonstrated excellence in engineering throughout his career, in both petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Notably, he has been responsible for transforming pharmaceutical chemical factories into highly intensive and agile manufacturing units, thereby improving manufacturing and supply of medicines. He is a leading influencer within industry, and with regulators, on the adoption and economics of intensive chemical manufacturing processes. He has published extensively and serves on numerous strategy and advisory bodies. He is passionate about chemical engineering and the positive role the profession has in society.
Professor Simon Saunders FREng Communication Technology Advisor, Visiting Professor King’s College London
Professor Simon Saunders is an internationally recognised leader, inventor and communicator in the field of wireless communications technology, with achievements in industry (Google, Philips and Motorola) and academia (University of Surrey, Trinity College Dublin, King’s College London) and regulation (as Director of Emerging and Online Technology for Ofcom). He spearheaded the small cell revolution, founding and chairing the Small Cell Forum, enabling standards, regulation and industry recognition of this now-established technology. He is co-founder of Real Wireless, author of a widely taught textbook on antennas and propagation plus over 150 papers, and inventor of some 15 patent families.
Dr Iain Scott FREng Vice-President of Capability and Chief Technology Officer, Radar and Advanced Targeting, Leonardo
Dr Iain Scott is an internationally recognised expert in the field of airborne radar. His engineering expertise, leadership and vision have created Leonardo’s world-beating Vixen-E family of airborne radars, unique products that are now a major UK export success. Over the last 20 years, he has played a leading engineering role in the development of numerous airborne radars, including systems for the Tornado, Gripen and Typhoon fighter aircraft. He is currently Vice-President of Capability and Chief Technology Officer for Leonardo’s Radar and Advanced Targeting business, responsible for the company’s strategic direction and its major investments in sensor technologies and products.
Dr Andrew Senior FREng Senior Research Scientist, DeepMind
Dr Andrew Senior has contributed significantly to the development of neural networks for large-scale industrial deployment including speech recognition, speech synthesis and protein structure prediction. He has contributed a large body of research from the above, which has been highly influential on both academic research and industry practice enabling the deployment in applications with significant impact include biometrics and video surveillance in addition to speech and protein folding.
David Short FREng Technology and Advanced Programmes Director, BAE Systems Plc
David Short works within BAE Systems Group Head Office, managing multi–domain technology investment and strategic collaboration across the business sectors. Dave is distinguished for his leadership and technical capability in the development of, and problem solving within, complex mission systems across the engineering lifecycle. He has worked for many years in an international environment; previous roles have included Engineering Authority for Tornado and Typhoon as well as the BAE Systems Chief Engineer for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. He has always been passionate about Engineering, avionics systems and product competitiveness through Technology. He is also proud to be a Trustee of the Engineering Council.
Dr Jamie Shotton FREng Chief Scientist, Wayve
Dr Jamie Shotton has brought real-time computer vision technology to successful production while expanding the state-of-the-art, recognised by numerous academic and industrial awards. His work on Kinect for Xbox 360 was the first real-time human body tracking system, and Kinect was the fastest-selling consumer product ever at launch. He then led the team that delivered another world first: hand tracking in Microsoft HoloLens 2, an untethered augmented reality headset. He was part of the winning team for the MacRobert Award in 2011 and won an Academy Silver Medal in 2020.
Dr Jonathan Simm FREng Chief Technical Director (Resilience), HR Wallingford Ltd
Dr Jonathan Simm has made a unique contribution in coastal and river engineering by making his own research, together with that of others, and knowledge and expertise in the subject area, available to the profession through production of guidance documents that have had a major impact on working practices. This was done in a period of fundamental change from the use of hard defences to working with nature using softer, more environmentally acceptable methods. He has facilitated this change by being principal author, editor or major contributor to over 20 such guidance manuals commissioned by UK, European and US authorities.
Professor Julia Sutcliffe FREng Chief Technologist – Air, BAE Systems; Honorary Professor University of Manchester
Julia is an exceptional engineer who has been at the forefront of research and development of autonomous systems in the defence sector. Following a PhD in Physics, she has spent her career between the UK and Australia and currently leads the technology strategy for BAE Systems Air business where she is responsible for the transformational technology required for the next generation of products and services and their delivery. Innovation, partnership and the application of diverse technologies from Artificial Intelligence to Human-Machine Teaming are high on her agenda. She is an Honorary Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. Julia is a passionate promoter of engineering and has appeared in many different fora as an advocate for STEM and for diversity & inclusion within the engineering profession.
Dr Robert Swann FREng Chair: Audio Analytic Ltd; AudioTelligence Ltd; SLAMCore; Flusso; Board Member: Undo Software; Living Optics
Dr Robert Swann is an outstanding engineering entrepreneur who has built technology companies that became leaders in video, image and audio processing and developed products widely used in mobile phones and other consumer devices. Robert was co-founder and Chairman of Spectral Edge (a computational photography company acquired by Apple), Chairman of Cambridge CMOS Sensors (an environmental sensor company acquired by AMS) and Green Parrot Pictures (a video processing company acquired by Google); and a board member of Movidius Inc (a semiconductor processor company acquired by Intel), Dexela (an image sensor company acquired by Perkin Elmer), and Im-Sense (an image processing company acquired by Apple). In 2000, he was one of the two co-founders of innovative Cambridge semiconductor company Alphamosaic, which developed silicon chips for multimedia processing, and was acquired by Broadcom with its product widely deployed in mobile phones and the Apple video iPod. Subsequently he has contributed significantly to UK engineering entrepreneurship by co-founding, chairing and advising successful deep-technology start-up businesses.
Dr Simon Thomas FREng Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Paragraf Ltd
Simon Thomas is a founder and the CEO of Paragraf, a pioneering graphene electronic device company. He is a materials engineer whose research, developments and inventions have enabled the world’s first scalable graphene electronics products to be achieved, solving a 15+ year challenge for industry. Paragraf’s products are radically transforming application spaces today and enabling previously unachievable technologies, opening the door to the next era of electronics. Dr Thomas spent many years as a semiconductor specialist developing transformational products for the semiconductor device industry. His translation of knowledge from this sector led to the innovation of Paragraf’s ground-breaking technology.
Professor Patricia Thornley FREng Director, Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute, Aston University
Professor Patricia Thornley is an international leader in assessing the sustainability of energy systems. Her work contributes to our understanding of how to best use low-carbon technologies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change. Her particular expertise is in process design, modelling and lifecycle evaluation. Her focus is on evaluating the environmental, economic and social consequences of implementation pathways at the interface of the academic, policy and industrial communities. Her work is particularly influential in advising government on energy policy and supporting engineering deployment of low-carbon energy solutions in the UK and worldwide.
Professor Yiannis Ventikos FREng Kennedy Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University College London
Professor Yiannis Ventikos has made contributions in a broad range of engineering topics, in scholarship, entrepreneurship, and leadership. His work on brain biomechanics and healthcare focuses on the development of new ideas and methods connected with diseases like dementia and aneurysms and the design and optimisation of implantable devices for treatment. In the broader context of fluid mechanics and transport phenomena, he has explored a wide range of themes, including micro/nanofluidics and shockwave-bubble interaction. The latter has led to the launching of First Light Fusion Ltd, a research-intensive company pursuing the goal of clean and sustainable baseload power generation. He is currently serving as Kennedy Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Head of Department at University College London.
Professor Yanghua Wang FREng Professor of Geophysics, Imperial College London
Professor Yanghua Wang is distinguished for providing worldwide leadership and innovation in the emerging field of petroleum reservoir engineering geophysics. His outstanding achievement has been to move reservoir geophysics from relative obscurity into a position of strategic importance across the entire international petroleum industry. He is eminent for inventing and pioneering the implementation of a wide range of geophysical engineering technologies, which have been subsequently adopted industry wide. His pre-eminence was recognised in 2019 by his appointment as the Director of the newly established Resource Geophysics Academy in London.
Dr Rebecca Weston FREng Chief Operating Officer, Sellafield Ltd
Dr Rebecca Weston is an internationally respected industry leader and nuclear engineer, with proven experience in driving technical and engineering innovation and excellence, that are solving some of the world’s most complex decommissioning challenges. She is currently the Chief Operating Officer at the Sellafield site in Cumbria and has two decades of experience across the nuclear lifecycle. Her capability and experience are regularly called upon internationally through serving on expert committees and reviews for the International Atomic Energy Agency and World Association of Nuclear Operators among others. Dr Weston is passionate about learning and development and driving aspiration.
Professor Bajram Zeqiri FREng NPL Fellow in Ultrasound, National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
Professor Bajram Zeqiri is a world leader in clinical applications of ultrasonic metrology. He is Head of Science for Medical and Marine Physics at NPL and Visiting Professor with the UCL Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, with over 80 peer-reviewed publications. His research has been instrumental in developing devices, calibration methods and specification standards critical to ensuring the safe and effective application of diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound technologies. His passion for technical innovation is reflected in a string of patents and broader IP generation. Collaboration with industry partners has enabled adoption of his innovative ideas in a range of engineering applications.
Professor Cato T Laurencin FREng (USA) Chief Executive Officer, The Connecticut Convergence Institute for Translation in Regenerative Engineering, UConn, USA
Professor Cato T Laurencin is an international leader in biomedical engineering and the international authority on biomaterials applied to musculoskeletal regeneration. He is the founder of the field of Regenerative Engineering. He has produced seminal work on nano-based polymers and polymer-ceramic systems for musculoskeletal use that have led to technologies and products in bone and soft tissue repair and regeneration. He is a National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureate, and he is the first surgeon elected to all four U.S. National Academies (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, and National Academy of Inventors). He has profoundly shaped policy as a member of the NSF Advisory Committee on Engineering and the National Science Board for the Food and Drug Administration.
Professor Alfonso Hing Wan Ngan FREng (Hong Kong) Kingboard Endowed Professor in Materials Engineering, University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong SA
Professor Alfonso Hing Wan Ngan recently served as Senior Advisor to the President, Acting Vice-President (Research) and Head of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Hong Kong. He has made an outstanding and consistent contribution to the characterisation, development and application of novel materials for a wide range of applications internationally.
Aleida Rios FREng (USA/UK) Senior Vice President of Engineering, bp
Aleida Rios is bp’s Senior Vice-President of Engineering, responsible for the development of over 2,500 engineers, and bp's global engineering centre. In this role, and as Chair of the Energy Institute’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee, and via membership of The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers, she drives development of international engineering standards. Aleida is of Mexican heritage, and supported bp’s successful entry in 2015 to exploration in Mexico. In 2017, she was named 10th on Fortune magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Latinas. She is dedicated to promoting excellence in engineering, mentoring diverse talent, and supporting professional accreditation. Aleida has a global role currently US based and actively engaged in the UK with the Academy.
Professor Nabeel Agha Riza FREng (Ireland) Chair Professor Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Cork
Dr Nabeel Agha Riza, Chair Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Cork, Ireland, is an international prize-winning inventor of light-based technologies. He has been awarded 47 US patents, 30 as single inventor, with many of his inventions deployed around the world including in the fibre-optic internet. Over a period of 30 years, he has had major impact in the fields of radio frequency phased array antennas and radar, fibre-optical communications, camera design, microscope design, electronic lens design, optical wireless communications, and extreme temperature sensor design allowing operation of cleaner and more efficient gas turbines in power plants. He is recognised internationally for educating distinguished engineers.
Roma Agrawal MBE HonFREng Structural engineer, broadcaster and author
Roma Agrawal is a structural engineer, broadcaster and author. She has designed bridges, skyscrapers and sculptures with signature architects and spent six years working on The Shard, the tallest building in Western Europe, designing the foundations and the ‘Spire’. In 2018 she was awarded an MBE for services to engineering. Having studied physics at the University of Oxford, she decided to do an MSc in structural engineering at Imperial College London, which set her on course for a career in construction. Roma worked for WSP for ten years before joining Interserve as a Design Manager. She later joined AECOM as an Associate Director where she worked until last year.
Yewande Akinola MBE HonFREng RAEng Visiting Professor, University of Westminster; Innovate UK Ambassador for clean growth and infrastructure
Yewande Akinola is distinguished as an engineer, communicator and sustainability advocate, as well as being an outstanding role model for inclusive leadership. She has balanced a successful career in design engineering with a vibrant parallel career in media and public engagement to promote engineering and challenge narrow stereotypes of who engineers are and the difference they make in the world. Yewande is a chartered engineer whose expertise includes design and construction, innovation and the manufacturing of buildings and systems in the built environment. In 2007, after graduating from the University of Warwick, she was employed by Arup as a design engineer, designing water supplies and water management systems. While working for Arup, she earned a master’s degree from Cranfield University in 2011. She was later Principal Engineer and Innovation Lead at Laing O’Rourke. She is currently a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster, an Innovate UK Ambassador for clean growth and infrastructure, and a social entrepreneur.
Dr Trueman Goba HonFREng Outgoing President, The South African Academy for Engineering; Chair, Hatch Africa
Dr Trueman Goba is the outgoing President of the South African Academy for Engineering and Chair of Hatch Africa, a leading consultancy working with clients to support growth and sustainability across Africa. He has been instrumental in opening up the engineering profession in South Africa for Black people, through his business and professional leadership roles, and through his personal breakthrough as the first Black engineer to graduate at the former University of Natal in 1979 in apartheid-era South Africa. He overcame multiple obstacles in apartheid-era South Africa to graduate in civil engineering at the former University of Natal in 1979, at a time when it was virtually impossible for Black Africans to do so. In recent years he has taken on a variety of leadership roles in the South African engineering profession, where he has built up a reputation as an ambassador for the profession to the public and government and been a strong advocate for opening up engineering careers to formerly disadvantaged communities, particularly for broader access to postgraduate training, to improve the quality and quantity of engineering skills.
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE HonFREng CEO and Co-Founder of Stemettes
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE is a prodigy in every sense of the word. Aged 11, she was the youngest girl ever to pass A-level computing, and was just 20 years old when she received her master’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Oxford. Since then, she has forged an enviable CV, including positions at Goldman Sachs, Hewlett-Packard and Deutsche Bank. Then there are the Honorary Doctorates from Open University, Glasgow Caledonian University, Kent University & Bristol University and an Honorary Fellowship at Keble College, Oxford. She is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Sunderland and sits on the Council of Research England.
Steph McGovern HonFREng Broadcaster and journalist
Steph McGovern is an award-winning broadcaster and journalist who has been an outstanding champion for engineering throughout her career. At the start of her sixth-form studies, she won an Arkwright Engineering Scholarship for her potential to be a future leader in the engineering industry. At the age of 19, she was awarded 'Young Engineer for Britain'. She attended University College London, where she studied science communication and policy in the Department of Science and Technology Studies. In 2013, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Teesside University.