Professors Elaine Martin and Ian Metcalfe have been elected Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

As the UK’s national academy for engineering, the RAE brings together the most successful and talented engineers from across the engineering sectors to advance and promote excellence in engineering.

Announcing 59 new Fellows at the AGM last week, the list includes some of the UK's most accomplished engineers from industry, business and academia including Newcastle University’s Professors Elaine Martin and Ian Metcalfe.

Elaine Martin, Professor of Industrial Statistics and Director of the Biopharmaceutical Bioprocessing Technology Centre at Newcastle University was awarded the accolade for her “outstanding contribution to the development and application of statistical techniques to improve the understanding and beneficial operation of industrial process plants.”

Starting life as a civil engineer before specialising in statistics and environmental statistics, the panel said she “is much admired for her leadership of engineering research at Newcastle University and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.”

Ian Metcalfe, Professor of Chemical Engineering in the School of Chemical Engineering and Advanced Materials, is “a world leader in the field of catalytic and transport mechanisms in ceramic membrane reactors and solid oxide fuel cells.”

Professor Steve Homans, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering, said: “It’s a richly deserved award for two very talented engineers.  The FREng is recognition of outstanding work over a long period of time and the contribution made by both Elaine and Ian is worthy of this accolade.”

Sir John Parker GBE FREng, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: "We welcome our new Fellows: the collective expertise and vision of the best engineers is what drives our ambitious agenda and makes so many good things possible.

"We are making progress in our aim to encourage a broader-based Fellowship that is more representative of the society we serve. But we cannot afford to be complacent and are continually reviewing our membership strategy to see how we might strengthen it."

published on: 25 July 2012