MP is first woman President

An Institution of Engineering Designers product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team May 14, 2003

The Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) has appointed Claire Curtis-Thomas MP as its first ever woman member to be elected Honorary President.

The Institution of Engineering Designers (IED) has appointed Claire Curtis-Thomas MP as its first ever woman member to be elected Honorary President.

The Member of Parliament for Crosby was also the first female professional engineer to enter the House of Commons in the history of the British Parliament.

Curtis-Thomas joins the elite of only five women who have served as presidents of the 34 professional institutions and learned societies that form the Engineering Council UK (ECUK), which covers the fields of science, engineering and technology.

Under this umbrella organisation, the IED is the UK's professional body for designers who operate in widely diverse fields of design practice.

An honorary fellow of the IED, Curtis-Thomas says she was delighted to be asked to take up the position and has already set the wheels in motion for a number of new initiatives over the coming two years that she will serve as president.

Commenting on her work, which underlines her enthusiasm for engineering, she said: "Since my apprenticeship I have marvelled at the collective creativity and ingenuity of our engineers.

I want to continue to play my part in ensuring that our concerns and aspirations about issues that matter to us are heard loud and clear and to strive to ensure that the public, business and government sectors understand the contribution that engineering designers make to everyone's life".

Curtis-Thomas is a registered chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

In the House of Commons she is the DTI sponsor for Science, Engineering and Technology and a member of the Regulatory Reform Select Committee.

She also hosts the annual "Reception for Younger Engineers" and has raised a number of debates within the House, including a proposal to appoint a chief engineering advisor to the Cabinet and highlighting how engineers can work together to alleviate poverty.

Outside Parliament, Curtis-Thomas is a member of the Engineering and Technology Board (ETB), where she chairs the registrant's panel.

She is also the founder and president of Setup, an educational charity whose main aim is to promote science, engineering and technology to school children.

From 1997 to 2001, Curtis-Thomas was a member of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, where she was able to apply her knowledge of engineering research and development coupled with her experience of strategic planning and logistics within business.

Before election to the House in 1997, Curtis-Thomas was Manager of Environmental Affairs at Shell Chemicals UK and before that was Head of Research and Development Laboratories with Birmingham City Council.

She studied for a BSc in mechanical engineering at University College Cardiff, and worked as the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Engineering at the University of Wales.