Transport Systems Catapult CEO Steve Yianni has received one of the UK engineering industry’s highest accolades, after being elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Mr Yianni’s election was confirmed at the Academy’s Annual General Meeting on Monday, when a total of 59 new Fellows were invited to join the body “in recognition of their outstanding and continuing contributions to engineering”.
The Academy’s Fellows are selected to represent the nation’s best engineering researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, business and industry leaders. Election to the group is by invitation only, with around 50 Fellows being elected each year by peer review from nominations made by existing Fellows.
“I am delighted to have been awarded this national honour and I look forward to further contributing to the prominence of engineering as the country rebalances its economy,” said Mr Yianni. “Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering also helps the Transport Systems Catapult to engage with a broader community, as we continue our mission to promote and grow Intelligent Mobility in the UK and beyond.”
Mr Yianni and the other new Fellows were welcomed to the Academy by Professor Dame Ann Dowling who also had cause to celebrate on Monday as she became the body’s first female President.
“Our newly elected Fellows bring an enormous breadth of expertise to the Academy, widening our collective scope and knowledge,” said Professor Dowling. “I know that they will all make significant contributions to the Academy’s activities in their time as Fellows and we look forward to working with them to create benefit for society through engineering.
“Being elected to lead the Royal Academy of Engineering is a great honour. There is a growing recognition of the vital importance of engineering in addressing the many challenges that face society. But there is much work to be done to ensure that UK engineering is in a position to make its optimal contribution, including the need to address our looming engineering skills gap and crucially to pursue a strategy of efficient and sustainable growth in a rebalanced economy.”
The complete list of new Fellows for 2014 can be found here.
