Press releases
Patrick Kniveton has today (Wednesday 22 May) become the 128th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Patrick Kniveton, who is also Head of Engineering Improvement at Rolls-Royce Marine Power, said of his appointment:
“It is a great honour to be appointed President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and join the likes of George Stephenson, Joseph Whitworth and Sir Harry Ricardo.
“But I want my theme for my Presidency to be about celebrating not just the engineers of the past, but to celebrate the engineers that are making a real difference to people’s lives today and in the future.
“During my Presidency I want to encourage Government to continue to work with industry to boost UK engineering and engineering skills. Without engineers we cannot build a strong economy, nor build the large-scale infrastructure projects needed to revitalize our transport, energy and manufacturing industries.
“I also want to work hard to help SMEs and to ensure the Institution works with industry to lead the development of new engineering business ventures.”
Patrick Kniveton graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Leeds in 1976. He has worked in industries such as observatory telescopes, air conditioning plant, nuclear power, instrumentation, electronic traffic signs, infrastructure planning and design, engineering improvements, business management and engineering sales.
During his career, he led the installation for the Isaac Newton Telescope and developed revolutionary traffic signal technology in the 1990s which is still in use today.
Currently he is Head of Engineering Improvement at Rolls-Royce Marine Power, and has worked at Rolls-Royce since 1989.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, founded by George Stephenson in 1847, represents more than 100,000 mechanical engineers involved in diverse areas such as the automotive, rail, aerospace, medical, power and construction industries.
Patrick Kniveton succeeds Prof Isobel Pollock who became the second female President of Institution in 2012.