Mr J N Loughhead BSc(Eng) MSc DIC FCGI

 John Loughhead is Executive Director of the UK Energy Research Centre.  The Centre is charged with conducting whole systems research while ‘networking’ the energy research community.  A major part of John’s role is high-level networking with UK and overseas researchers and Governments - particularly in India and China - while ensuring that the Centre continues to operate on the cusp of energy research and policy, with strong ties to Government. John’s professional career has been predominantly in industrial research and development for the electronics and electrical power industries. He started at the then GEC Mechanical Engineering Laboratory where he developed what still is the standard design code for European space vehicles.  He subsequently led GEC’s Thermofluids Division which developed new and renewable energy technologies, and was one of the first UK industrial developers of fuel cell systems. John then became Director of the GEC Engineering Research Centre before moving to Paris as Vice-President for Technology.  In those roles he set up the major European grouping developing solid-oxide fuel cells, pursued the application of high temperature superconductors and co-ordinated all other technology development across the whole product range. For several years John has been extensively involved in national and European public sector technology programmes, as a member of various advisory committees and chair of policy reviews in the area of future electric power systems. He is a member of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council Technology Board, Assessor for the DTI Technology Programme, Advisor and Assessor to the European Commission Directorate-General Research, chaired the EC Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Implementation Panel and has recently been appointed co-chair of the Implementation Committee of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy. He is a member of several university advisory boards and of the UK’s Energy Research Partnership.

Deputy Presidents

 

Mr C M Earnshaw FREng BSc

Chris is a Director of Oakleigh Ventures Ltd, which acts as advisor to a number of technology and private equity companies in the UK and US.  Chris has recently completed a term of office as non-executive Chairman of the UK Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), a non-departmental public body which provided IT and communication systems to the police and related criminal justice services in England, Scotland and Wales. Prior to this, he held a number of senior executive positions in the telecoms industry and was a member of the Executive Management Board/Executive Committee of British Telecom (BT) from 1991 until 2002.

He has also served on the board of Cellnet (now O2) and a number of professional industry and government boards.  He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.  He served on the UK Engineering and Technology Board (ETB) as an independent industry director and is a member of the Board of the International Engineering Consortium, based in Chicago.  He was awarded the 2001 IEEE Ernst Weber Award for global leadership.

 

Professor C M Snowden FRS FREng 

Christopher Snowden is Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Surrey, UK. He is a non-executive Director of Intense Ltd, which designs and manufactures photonic products and is the Chairman of HERO Ltd. Professor Snowden is a member of the UK’s National Advisory Committee on Electronic Materials and Devices, and is a Member of the Council of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.His first position after graduating was at Mullard Ltd. as an Applications Engineer. His PhD studies were later conducted in association with Racal-MESL Ltd. He has worked as the Senior Staff Scientist in Corporate Research and Development at M/A-COM Inc. in the USA. Chris has acted as a consultant for major international microwave electronics companies in Europe and the USA. He held the personal Chair of Microwave Engineering at the University of Leeds from 1992 to 2005 and during the period 1995-98 he was Head of the School of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. Prior to his current role at Surrey, he was Chief Executive Officer of Filtronic ICS. He joined Filtronic plc in 1998 and was promoted to Joint Chief Executive Officer in 1999.He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the IET, a Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute. He was awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Silver Medal in 2004. He was awarded the 1999 Microwave Prize of the IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society. He is a member of the IET Communications Sector Panel.

Vice Presidents

 Mr H V Bell  BSc

Hamish Bell is a consultant with a career that has encompassed senior positions in computer design, software, complex systems, and marketing. For the last 17 years he has provided consultancy in the fields of design, manufacture and quality assurance. Within the Institution he has served on Council and associated Boards, and the Consultants’ Network, undertaken CEng interviewing, and provided membership advice. Self-employed, active, and no longer needing to work full-time, he devotes his energy and time to promoting the Institution and profession.

He particularly supports greater autonomy for the major world regions to enable the development of the global character of the Institution. At the other end of the scale, he endeavours to encourage more participation by SMEs in Institution activities. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Quality Institute. 

Cdre B P S Brooks BSc(Eng) FCGI

Barry Brooks joined the Royal Navy in 1968 and read Electrical Engineering at Imperial College. He served in nuclear submarines (as nuclear propulsion engineer and as weapons engineer), R&D and weapon system projects, and in MOD Whitehall and Cabinet Office posts. He helped to design and deliver the Smart Acquisition change programme, and to merge Navy, Army and RAF logistics into the Defence Logistics Organisation. For his second career, he is a management consultant, helping organisations to benefit from complex change programmes. Barry is a Fellow of the IET, City & Guilds of London Institute and Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology and is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers. As President of City & Guilds College Association, he built closer links between alumni and engineering students of Imperial College. He has been active on the IEE (now IET) Benevolent Fund Court and Case Committee for several years. As Chairman of IEE Somerset & West Wiltshire Branch, he doubled the event programme and took it to the towns where members are concentrated. On Council since 2003, he argued strongly for the IEE to do better at meeting members’ needs – with some success. As a Trustee and Vice-President of the IEE (now the IET) since 2005, and Chairman of the IET Membership and Regions Board, he has encouraged the consultative approach that has resulted in more interactive engagement of members in the UK and abroad. 

 Dr N F Chin BSc MSc PhD

 N F Chin graduated from Strathclyde University with a 1st Class Honours BSc in electrical and electronic engineering in 1974 and a research MSc in 1976.  In 1975 he started his professional career in power system protection, communication and control with GEC Measurements, UK.  In 1981 he started his overseas tour of duty in Hong Kong becoming Deputy Vice President for the Asia Pacific and Middle East regions before leaving the company, then part of Alsthom, in 2001.  He is currently a Director with PowerNets Marketing Limited in Hong Kong providing technical consultancy and commercial sales and marketing services.  Dr Chin served on the IET Hong Kong Committee since formation in 1988, becoming Chairman in 1992.  He is currently IET International Membership Advisor and one of Registration Panel members dealing with professional registration.  He also served a 3-year term with EC(UK) International Advisory Panel.  He has also served in IEEE Hong Kong Committee and was its Chairman in 1997 & 1998.  Academically Dr Chin has been External Examiner, Advisor and course-revalidation panel member in Hong Kong with Polytechnic University; Honorary Lecturer with City University and reviewer with the University Grants Committee.  In 1995 he received a PhD from Bath University UK for his research work in power system protection.

Mr A G O'Neill BSc MSc

After obtaining his initial degree, George O’Neill worked in the electronics industry, designing digital hardware, writing the associated software and then installing and maintaining the systems. In a change of career, he joined the RAF as an Engineer Officer and has held a variety of posts over the past 30 years, ranging from managing the maintenance of jet aircraft and missiles to being on the Directing Staff at the Royal Military College of Science, Shrivenham, specialising in the Electronic Systems Engineering MSc course. In 1982, he attended the Advanced Systems Engineering Course at RAF Cranwell, where he won the Whittle Prize and obtained a MSc in Aeronautical Engineering. His current appointment is as head of the newly created “Audit and Evaluation of Training” department within the Royal Air Force Training Group. Until March 2006, George was an active member of the IIE, latterly as Vice- Chairman of Council and Chairman of the Professional Development Committee. He was a member of the Working Parties which developed the IET concept. He also was a member of the Working Group which developed the new UK-SPEC Competence Statements for IEng and CEng. He is presently an ETB member of the ECUK Board of Trustees.

Dr K Rajagopal FREng PhD

 Dr Rajagopal was Chief Executive of BOC Edwards and an executive director of BOC Group plc until the end of 2006. He is a non executive director of Foseco plc and Dyson Group plc and Chairman of the Manufacturing Sector Panel of the IET. He is a member of the Council for Science and Technology, the UK government's top-level advisory body on science and technology policy issues. After graduating in 1975 Dr Rajagopal worked for GEC Turbine Generators in Manchester and then for the BOC Group plc in several positions in manufacturing and general management until 2006. He was also a director of Japan Air Gases and BOCLH, a joint venture in Taiwan. He has extensive experience in international business particularly in semiconductor and associated high technology industries. Dr Rajagopal is a member of the Council of Cranfield University and the advisory Board of the Centre for Business Research, Cambridge University. He was a member of the Board of FSI International, a US Nasdaq company, until 2006. He was awarded the IET’s Eric Mensforth Manufacturing Gold Medal in 2003 and an honorary DSc from Cranfield University in 2004. “I am very keen to ensure the IET focuses on the needs of its members, especially in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing in the UK is undergoing radical regeneration and engineers are at the heart of this transformation.  I would work on ensuring the IET recognizes and satisfies the requirements of its members and promotes their interests in appropriate areas including Government.  I would facilitate cooperation between the IET and Government bodies involved with science and technology.  I am also very enthusiastic about collaborative working with other institutions and authorities in the UK and overseas, particularly in emerging economies towards enhancing the status, influence and operating environment for engineers.”

Mr I R Sturrock MBE

Iain Sturrock is in senior management of the Information Management function at the BOC Group. Iain studied Applied Physics at Napier University, Edinburgh, from 1972 to 1975 and was awarded the College medal. Since then he had varied experience including university research, as an officer in the Royal Navy and worked for a number of major companies in the IT and telecommunications industry, both service providers and manufacturers, across diverse locations such as Europe, Middle East and the Caribbean. He has also worked as a management consultant and his recent consulting experience includes advising technology companies on business transitions, accelerating time to market, international sales strategies and management skills reviews. It was from a successful consulting assignment with BOC that he was recruited into his current global role with the Company.He was Chairman of the Institution of Incorporated Engineers in 2004-2005, having some years earlier been Chairman of one of IIE’s antecedents, IEEIE. An occasional conference speaker, he gave the keynote address at ComTech2 in Glasgow, October 2000. He was awarded the MBE in 2003 for services to business and engineering.

Ordinary Members 

Miss M Fitzgerald BA/BE

Marguerite Fitzgerald is a strategy consultant for the  Boston Consulting Group, Melbourne, Australia. Prior to that she worked in the Power Industry as a project engineer.  In 1999,  Marguerite  joined the IEE as a student and was instrumental in establishing the first Younger Members’ Section in Australia.   From then on her involvement in the Institution’s activities grew considerably; she led the re-launch of the Australian Technical Presentation Prize in 2002 and became Chair of both IET Victoria in 2003 and the IET Australia Forum in 2004.  Under her leadership, Australia saw a growth in members and active volunteers together with the building of stronger relationships with other institutions that operate locally.  In March 2007, Marguerite resigned from her Australian chairmanships to undertake MBA studies at INSEAD, in France, sponsored by her employer.

Professor M Petrou FREng

Maria Petrou is the Professor of Signal Processing and the Head of the Communications and Signal Processing Group of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College. She studied Physics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, Applied Mathematics in Cambridge and she did her PhD in the Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge, UK. She became a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of IEE in 1998. She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of IAPR and a Distinguished Fellow of the British Machine Vision Association. She has published more than 300 scientific papers, on Remote Sensing, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Colour Analysis, Industrial Inspection, Astronomy, and Medical Signal and Image Processing. She has co-authored two books "Image Processing: the fundamentals" and "Image Processing: Dealing with texture" both published by John Wiley in 1999 and 2006 respectively. She has served as an honorary editor of IEE Electronics Letters (2002-2005). She has been a member of the Publications Board and Council of the IET.

Mr C H Porter BSc(Eng)

Colin Porter is the Engineering Director of Lloyd’s Register Rail Ltd. He has an engineering degree from Queen Mary College, London, and trained as a signal and telecommunications engineer with British Rail with a variety of engineering and management roles becoming the Group S&T Engineer of British Rail Infrastructure Services. At the time of railway privatisation he joined the American signalling company Harmon Industries becoming Managing Director of its UK subsidiary, by then GE Transportation Systems (UK). In 2001 he joined Lloyds’s Register Rail leading the business development and engineering activities of the company. He is a Past-President of the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers and currently a Board Member of the Engineering Council (UK). Colin has been a professional review interviewer for many years and was elected as a Trustee in October 2006, with a “manifesto” to ensure that the Institution continued to provide a focus for electrical engineers and to support its member’s needs, whilst continuing its development into a broader multifunctional organisation.

Mr G G M Robb

George Robb is a retired BT Senior Manager. Latterly he was Project Director responsible for the identification, design, development and successful outcome of large scale contracts which were business critical for BT. Shortly after joining the IEEIE in 1982 George became an active member of the Scottish Regional Committee and within a few years became its secretary and then to hold the post as chairman for 6 years. George was Chairman of IIE Council or its antecedent IEEIE in 1996/7, 1997/8 and 2003/4. He has also served as member or chairman of a variety of committees.

 Eur Ing A D Stringer BEng

Andrew Stringer joined British Rail in 1993 as a sponsored student and read Electronic Engineering at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.  He has worked as a railway signal engineer in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands.  He has also worked to recruit and train engineering graduates and students.  He is currently the Project Engineering Manager for Westinghouse Rail Systems on the Leamington Corridor Re-signalling project.  Andrew has been an active member of both the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Institution of Railway Signal Engineers.  He has been a member of Council of the IET since 2005.  He is also a Science and Engineering Ambassador, working with local schools to promote technology-based careers.