Professor William Bank's Achievements

Past IMechE President, Professor William Banks

Professor William M Banks’ year as the 123rd President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers came to an end on 27 May. Here we congratulate him on a successful term of office, and celebrate his achievements.

Consolidation and innovation were the themes of Professor Banks’ presidency, which was notable for establishing the Institution’s position within the engineering community and addressing the needs of the membership. Great strides were made towards updating the Institution, increasing its profile, reaching out to more of the membership and engaging better with both engineering companies and academia. Ground-breaking activities occurred in a number of areas including membership, media coverage, event attendance, political profile (including welcoming many Secretaries of State and Ministers to our Headquarters) and engaging with young people.

Perhaps understandably for an eminent academic, innovation in education received strong support from Professor Banks and was a cornerstone of his Presidency. The Institution developed Engeneration: a membership level which offers science, technology, engineering and maths students access to information on engineering; help and practical advice for their studies; as well as news and articles to inspire opting for careers in engineering. The Ambassadors scheme set about connecting engineers with schools to offer technical assistance to teachers.

2008 proved a busy year for Institution events with attendance numbers rising significantly. This was partly thanks to the focusing of activities around the Institution’s four key themes of Energy, Environment, Transport and Education.

The themes provided the foundation for the development of a number of engineering based reports on subjects such as Energy from Waste, Marine Energy in Scotland – the media launches of both of which saw Professor Banks taking a central role - and Climate Adaptation. These reports were developed as a means of increasing the Institution’s profile with key stakeholder groups such as the media and government. All reports contributed to a sizeable rise in our media profile to over £9M worth of printed news coverage and 70 minutes of TV and radio coverage.

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Source: www.imeche.org

Our New President; Keith Millard

124th President of IMechE, Keith Millard

Keith Millard has just been announced as the 124th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. In his first interview in office, Keith sets out his presidential plan for the next twelve months, and confirms his commitment to continuing to raise the profile of mechanical engineering both in the UK and globally.

Everything that made Keith Millard successful in business he learned from being a trained engineer. He was the Deputy President of the Institution from 2007-2009, a member of the Trustee Board for five years, and Chairman of the Technical Strategy Board from 2006-2009. He was the founding Chairman of the Management Group, and Chairman of the Power Division from 1998-2001. He is currently Director and owner of Kea Management and Group Chairman of Vistage International. He has previously been Vice President, Parsons International and Business Development Director, Balfour Beatty International Construction. For 11 years he was Managing Director of Gilbert Associates.

It is entirely appropriate that as votes were being counted in this year’s Institution presidential election, there were big news stories about the environment, energy and transport, including the launch of a car scrappage scheme, approval for Cross Rail and measures to reduce vehicle carbon emissions in the US. All present key challenges and opportunities for engineering including this Institution and many of its members.

For Keith Millard, the Institution’s themes of energy, environment, education and transport are, and will continue to be important. He said: “The themes provide a focus for the creation of substantive facts and information on engineering which can be used by government for policy making. The theme activity has also helped to keep mechanical engineering firmly in the public eye. The report on climate change adaptation was particularly good in this respect and generated a lot of media interest.”

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Read Keith Millard's Presidential Address here.

Source: www.imeche.org