Six Imperial academics among new Fellows of Royal Academy of Engineering

Researchers recognised for outstanding contributions to engineering - <em>News</em>

Wednesday 10 July 2008
By Colin Smith

Six Imperial College London researchers are recognised today for their outstanding contributions to engineering.

Professor Nigel Brandon, Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Professor Jeff Kramer, Department of Computing, Professor Christofer Toumazou, from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering, and Mr John Loughhead, of the Imperial-based UK Energy Research Centre are newly elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineers.

They are joined by Professor Sir Gordon Conway, from the College's Centre for Environmental Policy, and Professor of Science and Society Lord Winston, who are awarded Honorary Fellowships.

Left to right: Gordon Conway, Nigel Brandon, Chris Toumazou, Robert Winston, Jeff Kramer, John Loughhead.

Professor Nigel Brandon is the Executive Director of Imperial's Energy Futures Lab, and is particularly known for his work on solid oxide fuel cells, which produce electricity from a range of fuels in a clean and efficient way. His work has been commercialised by Ceres Power, an Imperial spinout company. Commenting about his Fellowship, he says:

“It is a tremendous honour and an ambition of mine fulfilled. I am very proud to receive recognition from the Royal Academy.”

Professor Christofer Toumzou established Imperial's Institute of Biomedical Engineering, of which he is Executive Director, to apply engineering understandings and techniques to medical challenges. Amongst his successes are one of the world’s first cochlear chips, which aims to restore hearing to those born deaf, and a silicon pancreas that mimics the function of the pancreas to regulate the insulin in people with Type 1 diabetes. Professor Toumazou says:

“It is great honour to be amongst such distinguished peers. I am extremely proud to be elected to the Royal Academy of Engineers.”

Professor Jeff Kramer's research is focused on distributed software engineering. Among other successes, he and his colleagues have developed architectural languages and tools for complex software systems, used by the company Phillips to create software programs for use in consumer electronics. He says:

“I am, of course, honoured and delighted to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy, the most prestigious engineering institution. It is wonderful recognition of an enjoyable and rewarding career with my colleagues here at Imperial.”

Mr John Loughhead, executive director of the UK Energy Research Centre, is recognised for contributions to engineering which include the development of an engineering analysis system used to create thermal designs for spacecraft. This system has been used by the European Space Agency for more than 20 years, during which time it has undergone further development, and is the approved thermal design system for all European space projects. He says:

“I look forward to playing an active role in the Academy itself and to hopefully being in a better position to put something back into the profession and practice of engineering, which I believe is essential to the UK and societies worldwide.”

Sir Gordon Conway, Professor of International Development at the Centre for Environmental Policy at the College, was one of the founders of Imperial's Centre for Environmental Policy. The Centre, which focuses on environmental and development issues, has grown from 20 students to more than 150 students to become a leading research hub at Imperial. Sir Gordon says he is delighted to be made an Honorary Fellow.

“I am very happy to receive the award of Honorary Fellow. I am biologist but my father was a mechanical engineer. He would have been very pleased," he comments.

Second Honorary Fellow Lord Winston is a renowned fertility researcher and one of the UK's leading science communicators. As Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies and Professor of Science and Society at Imperial, he is now focused on improving interaction and understanding between scientists and the public. He says:

"I feel delighted and very privileged to be elected to the Academy's Fellowship. Engineering is important to our lives in a vast number of ways, and I will do my best to make sure that it is high on the public engagement agenda."

Election to the Fellowships of the Royal Academy of Engineering honours the UK’s most distinguished engineers. The new elections bring the total number of Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering at Imperial to 74.