Last year saw significant progress made by the Automobile Division (AD) under the excellent Chairmanship of Terry Spall. We were able to demonstrate effective management in all areas of Divisional business resulting in the Automobile Division being ranked first for performance of all the Divisions and Groups of the IMechE in a review of the 2007 activities.
Terry Spall also opened our eyes to the scale of the global markets and particularly Asian automobile industries with his talk on “Taming the Tigers”.
My challenge as the new Chairman is to maintain the momentum achieved over the last year and continue to deliver events and activities which are relevant and meet the needs and demands of our members, industry and the Institution.
Let me provide a little background on my history. I have spent my entire professional career in Automotive Engineering.
I joined the IMechE as a student member at the age of 16 when studying for my O-levels, having decided that I wanted to achieve MIMechE as a primary career goal. This predated my decision to study Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, following which I joined Ford Motor Company in Product Development where I worked for the next thirty years.
I have remained involved in Institution activities throughout my career, having served as Secretary to the Essex Centre of the Automobile Division during its early years of operation and then as Chairman of the Essex Centre from 1993-1995 and from 2000-2003. I serve as a Science and Engineering Ambassador in schools and now regularly lecture at universities where I encourage young engineers to pursue careers in engineering rather than becoming accountants at the end of the course!
I am also the current Chairman of the South Essex Area of the IMechE Eastern Region and a visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire. I participate as a Design Judge in Formula Student.
During my time with Ford, I worked in nearly every aspect of Product Development, starting on Heavy Trucks in Body Engineering and Powertrain including engine, transmissions and legal requirements. I was the Project Manager for the Ford Transit from 1992 -1997 and spent three years in Detroit working on the all new Transit design launched in 1997. Following my time on Trucks I moved into cars where I experienced Electrical Engineering, Product Planning, Project Management of the original Ford Focus, Product Verification and Testing and eventually ending up as Chief Engineer responsible for Engineering Standards across all brands owned by Ford including Ford of Europe, Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, Mazda and Aston Martin.
My experience in the planning of new products at Ford has fostered a keen interest in new and emerging technologies. At the beginning of 2006 I was fortunate to be able to pursue these interest by taking early retirement from Ford to work on the area which I feel represents the greatest and most exciting challenge to Automotive Engineers in the future – tackling Climate Change. I am now devoting much of my time and energy to help communicate what these challenges really mean for the future of vehicle engineering and also to develop potential solutions to reduce Carbon Dioxide emissions which are a contributor to climate change.
This is a great time to be an automotive engineer with really exciting new ideas emerging to address these issues. I will be delivering my Chairman’s Address on this subject at the Institution Headquarters on October 29th 2008 entitled “Engineering the Future in a Changing Climate”, following which it will be presented at the AD Centres around the country.
The Automobile Division is also planning a major new conference on Low Carbon Vehicle Technologies which takes place on May 20-21 2009 and is intended to become a regular and authoritative fixture every two years in the calendar of the Institution. The conference will serve as a central focus for engineers to present and learn about emerging solutions, with the first event concentrating on Powertrain subjects. Details of the conference are available from the IMechE.
Finally, I would like to end by thanking Terry Spall and John Lowe, the previous two Chairmen, for the excellent position that I have inherited in the AD.
I will do my best to consolidate this and pass on the Division in good shape to my successor Jon Hilton and the Vice –Chairmen who follow.
In closing I hope that you will benefit from the activities planned by the Automobile Division and please feel free to provide me with feedback on any areas where you feel we can improve for the future. I am looking forward to an exciting year.
Prof. Richard Folkson FIMechE CEng
June 2008
