The Engineering Council would like to congratulate Professor Sir Jim McDonald CEng FIET FIOP FREng FRSE, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde, on his confirmation as the next President of the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) following a vote by Fellows at the Academy’s AGM.

Sir Jim, who is the Academy’s first Scottish President, will serve a term of five years.

Sir Jim McDonald is one of Scotland’s most accomplished engineers, and co-chairs the Scottish Government’s Energy Advisory Board, with the First Minister. He is Chairman of the Independent Glasgow Economic Leadership Board and holds senior business appointments with the Weir Group, Scottish Power, the UK Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and the UK National Physical Laboratory.

Born in Glasgow, Sir Jim studied for his first degree in electrical engineering at the University of Strathclyde and started his engineering career as a graduate apprentice on the Scottish Electrical Training Scheme. He worked in the electrical utility sector for seven years and returned to the University of Strathclyde in 1984 as a University Grants Commission New Blood Lecturer in Electrical Engineering. He was appointed to the Rolls-Royce Chair in Electrical Power Systems in 1993 and became Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in March 2009.

Professor McDonald was awarded a Knighthood in 2012 for services to education, engineering and the economy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the Institute of Physics (IoP) and the Energy Institute (EI) and a Chartered Engineer.

Please see the full announcement from RAEng for further details.

For press enquiries:    

Kate Webster, Engineering Council – kwebster@eng.org.uk, 020 3206 0567

Notes for editors:

The Engineering Council holds the national Register of Engineering Technicians (EngTech), Incorporated Engineers (IEng), Chartered Engineers (CEng) and Information and Communication Technology Technicians (ICTTech). It also sets and maintains the internationally recognised standards of competence and ethics that govern the award and retention of these titles. By this means it is able to ensure that employers, government and wider society, both at home and overseas, can have confidence in the skills and commitment of registrants. For more information visit: www.engc.org.uk