Engineering institute appoints new president

An Institution of Mechanical Engineers product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jun 5, 2007

John Baxter has been appointed the 122nd President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

A former Strathclyde University graduate has been appointed the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) 122nd President.

John Baxter is currently group Engineering Director at BP and his appointment coincided with the recent release of the government's controversial Energy White Paper.

His inaugural speech before 200 engineers, titled Energy for Life, focused on the immediate need for industry and government to work together with engineers to combat climate change.

He said: "We need energy sources with high output (such as oil, coal, nuclear etc) but with little to zero emissions".

"The energy supply challenges faced by the world will be met by a diverse combination of nuclear, clean fossil and renewables, but to achieve this we will require more engineers who want to contribute to improving our world".

He promised to use his year in office to champion the IMechE's key themes: education, energy, environment and transport.

He is also the first ever President of the Institution to run a blog highlighting the four key themes of the IMechE - energy, transport, education and environment.

This blog can be accessed via the IMechE website.

In it he stresses the current need to re-invigorate the nuclear industry (as nuclear is a carbon-free source of energy) and build new capacity.

Nuclear should only be used however, he said: "As part of a balanced portfolio of diverse energy sources including clean fossil fuel generation and renewables.

This will provide environmentally cleaner electricity and also enhance security of supply against shortages of any one fuel.

In recent years the almost continuous media coverage of climate change with renewable energy as the solution has hidden the immediate need for new large scale generation capacity.

At last the governments around the world seem to be waking up to this issue.

Combating climate change and providing a diverse and secure energy portfolio is one of the biggest and most exciting challenges facing the world's future and working engineers".

Baxter replaces Alec Osborn, MBE, former Chief Engineer of Perkins, as President .

He said: "Becoming President of one of the world's greatest engineering institutions is an important step and I am very proud to take on this role".

"I always wanted to be an engineer as it is one of the rare careers around where you can make a real difference to society and the world we live in".

"Just 35 years ago, it was a great time to be an engineer".

"There were a variety of jobs, lots of challenges and a feeling we could make a real difference".

"Today, some of that excitement seems to be missing, and young people are looking elsewhere to their careers - yet on every front we have fascinating technical challenges to overcome".

"It will be my duty as President of the IMechE to push for engineering to be a leading career choice for young people once more ", he added.

After studying at Strathclyde he began his career on board a Royal Navy Polaris nuclear submarine.

He also held a post on the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) Board before joining Powergen as Group Engineering Director.