Fellows' Day 2025

Sir John Lazar CBE FREng

Sir John is a software engineer and entrepreneur with experience of building and managing successful global businesses. He is Chair of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, which aims to help young people realise their full potential through the power of computing and digital technologies. He is also co-founder, General Partner, and a Limited Partner at Enza Capital, which backs founders and teams using technology to solve large and meaningful problems across Africa. He sits on the boards of multiple African technology companies and previously served as the Chair of What3words. He was awarded a CBE for services to engineering in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2016 and was knighted for services to engineering and technology in the His Majesty The King’s New Year Honours List 2025. Sir John was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2011 and chaired the Academy’s Enterprise Committee, which supports startups and scaleups across the UK and globally through the Enterprise Hub. He has also been a member of the Academy’s Education and Skills Committee and played an active role in developing the programme of study for England’s school Computer Science curriculum. Sir John has also been a judge and mentor for the Academy’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, which trains and backs early-stage African engineering companies.  He has spent many years working on tech-related non-profit initiatives in Africa, especially building “digital blacksmiths” and maker labs. He has been an active angel investor and technology start-up mentor in the UK and Africa, with more than 40 individual pre-seed/seed investments. He graduated from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar with an MSc in Computation and a DPhil in History, following an undergraduate degree in Computer Science at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Sir John was elected as President of the Royal Academy of Engineering at its 48th AGM in 2024.

Dame Dawn Childs DBE FREng

Dawn is the CEO of Pure Data Centres Group, building and operating hyperscale data centres. Before joining Pure she led a multi-billion transformation programme for National Grid. This followed several senior engineering appointments as: the Group Engineering Director for Merlin Entertainments with and the Head of Engineering at Gatwick Airport. She joined Gatwick after 23 years as an Engineering Officer in the RAF. She is a Trustee of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Air League and was the longest serving President of the Women’s Engineering Society. She was honoured with a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in October 2020 and was appointed a Dame Commander of the British Empire for services to engineering in the King’s New Years Honours 2023.