Honorary degree for engineering chief

Citation

(2007), "Honorary degree for engineering chief", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 79 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/aeat.2007.12779fab.030

Honorary degree for engineering chief

Honorary degree for engineering chief

A distinguished figure from the fields of engineering has been awarded honorary degree from the University of Strathclyde.

Mr Colin Smith (Figure 12), Director of Engineering and Technology at internationally renowned Rolls-Royce, was made a Doctor of Science at Barony Hall in Glasgow.

Figure 12 Mr Colin Smith, Director of Engineering and Technology at internationally renowned Rolls-Royce, was made a Doctor of Science at Barony Hall in Glasgow

Colin Smith is one of the most influential engineers in the UK, becoming one of only four Executive Directors of Rolls-Royce in July 2005. He continues to drive the company's technical leadership through research and development.

He has had a long and highly successful career with the company. His early career began at Rolls-Royce Leavesden, where he became a gas turbine project development engineer, and was later made chief engineer responsible for two state-of-the-art engines. On leaving Leavesden he went on to hold increasingly senior positions including Director of Engineering and Technology – Civil Aerospace; Engineering director – Airbus Projects; and Director of Research and Technology.

A passionate champion of the engineering profession, Mr Smith has driven a number of university partnerships that provide competitive advantage in the form of new intellectual property and innovative technologies. Strathclyde's proud history of partnerships with the company include the establishment of the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Electrical Power Systems and named Engineering Chairs in Power Engineering and Production Engineering.

Mr Smith is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Aeronautical Society.