IET President
Dr Gopichand Katragadda BE MS PhD CEng FIET
Dr Gopichand Katragadda is the Founder and CEO of Myelin Foundry, an AI company with a vision to transform human experiences and industry outcomes. He is an Independent Director of Bosch India Limited and ICICI Securities. He is also a member of the NASSCOM governing council for the Centre of Excellence for Data Science and AI.
Until January 2019, Gopi was the Group Chief Technology Officer and Innovation Head of Tata Sons. At Tata Sons, he facilitated the development of pioneering products and services, strategic technology collaboration, and innovation across the $100 Billion Tata Group. Previously, as the Chairman and Managing Director of GE India Technology Centre, he helped grow GE’s largest R&D Centre, the John F Welch Technology Centre, to be amongst the world's leaders in intellectual property generation.
Gopi is the past Chairman of the CII National Technology Committee and the CII Western Region Innovation Taskforce. He is a GE Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt. Gopi helped establish the Advanced Materials CoE at IIT-Madras and the Advanced Manufacturing CoE at IIT-Kharagpur. He has framed the CII-Tata Communications Digital Transformation CoE. Gopi also set up and managed the ongoing Tata research collaborations with Harvard and Yale.
Gopi has authored a book on innovation titled “SMASH,” currently in its second edition. He has over 30 journal publications, five patents, several invited presentations, and citations of his research work. Gopi holds a BE degree in Electronics Engineering from Bengaluru University and MS, PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from Iowa State University.
Past President
Professor Bob Cryan CBE DL FREng MBA DSc CEng FIET
Bob Cryan is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield, an institution of 22,000 students from 120 countries and the recipient of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize and the Times Higher Education University of the Year Award.
He holds six degrees including two first class honours (engineering, mathematics), an MBA and two doctorates. He is the recipient of the inaugural Guardian Inspiring University Leader of the Year Award and the Daily Telegraph Educate North Leadership Award.
Bob was awarded a CBE in the Queen's 2014 Birthday honours for services to higher education and later that year invited to become a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute.
Bob is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology. His subject area is Telecommunications and he has co-authored over 200 journal and conference publications.
In addition to engineering, Bob is interested in leadership and entrepreneurship and sits on the Board of the Chartered Management Institute, the Peter Jones Foundation and iDEA, an initiative that aims to engage one million young people in digital enterprise.
Deputy Presidents
Warren East CBE FREng FRS MA MBA CEng FIET
After an Engineering degree Warren spent 11 years at Texas Instruments before joining ARM in 1994. He was appointed to the board in 2000, and CEO in 2001. After some 30 years in the semiconductor industry, he left ARM in 2013, having led the team that developed ARM into the world’s leading semiconductor IP licensing company. By 2022 ARM chip volumes were in excess of 30 billion units per annum.
He was appointed CEO at Rolls-Royce in April 2015 with a mission to modernise, grow capacity alongside profitability and determine the future direction for a net zero world. He left Rolls-Royce at the end of 2022, having led the teams to modernise engineering tools, processes and manufacturing facilities, and restructure to significantly enhance operational gearing.
In 2019 Rolls-Royce achieved record cash flows, before Warren steered the business successfully through the Covid-19 disruption. Under Warren’s leadership Rolls-Royce also achieved the world speed record for Electric flight and demonstrated Hydrogen combustion in an existing aero engine.
He has also served on the boards of several major engineering and technology companies since 2007, including BT Dyson and Micron, and served on several advisory boards. He is currently a non-executive at ASML, Tokamak Energy, C-Capture Ltd. and Chair of NATS Holdings Ltd. along with the advisory board for Avina Clean Hydrogen.
He is an Executive in Residence at the Saïd Business School in Oxford and an Honorary Fellow at Wadham College Oxford. He is a FIET, FRAeS, FREng, FRS, Dsit FBCS, and CBE.
Dawn Ohlson MEng CEng FIET
Dawn Ohlson is Vice President of Engineering at Ultra Cyber. Previously, Dawn was the Technical Director for Northrop Grumman National Security Services with responsibility for the technical strategy and the leadership and development of capability of a multi-site engineering team.
She joined Racal Avionics (to become Thales) as an engineer on graduation from Oxford, spending her early career working as both Hardware and Software Engineer, eventually becoming an accomplished Systems Engineer in the field of navigation systems.
Dawn worked for almost 30 years in Thales, becoming the UK Systems Engineering Director and latterly the Engineering Director for Thales Avionics UK, the company she joined as a graduate. Her career has taken her to many different countries including a 6 year period working with the SVP, Chief Technical Officer in Thales HQ in Paris.
Dawn’s passion for developing younger engineers led her to present the IET Faraday lecture to promote engineering and technology to 14 to 16-year-olds, touring the UK, Ireland, and Asia.
She went on to transform graduate development and STEM Corporate Social Responsibility activities in Thales and received the WISE excellence award for her work in promoting the role of Women in Science and Engineering.
Dawn was also the 2015 winner of the First Women Award for Engineering and in 2019 she was included in the prestigious directory Who’s Who. Dawn is well known for her determination to make a difference. She is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
She is a Professional Registration Interviewer, former chair of the Professional Development Operations Committee, Professional Registration Scheme assessor, and Fellow assessor.
Vice Presidents
Yewande Akinola MBE HonFREng BEng MSc CEng FIET
Yewande is a chartered engineer, innovator and speaker. Her engineering experience includes the design and construction, innovation and manufacture of buildings and systems in the built environment.
She has worked on projects in the UK, Africa, the Middle East and East Asia and has been named the UK Young Woman Engineer of the Year by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. She has also been awarded the Exceptional Achiever Award from the Association for BAME Engineers and the Association of Consultancy and Engineering, UK (ACE).
Yewande is a Visiting Professor at the University of Westminster. She is passionate about STEM communication and has presented Engineering programmes for Television. In the 2020 New Year Honours list, Yewande was awarded an MBE for services to engineering innovation and diversity in STEM.
She has served as the UK's Innovation Agency (Innovate UK) Ambassador for Clean Growth and Infrastructure and has recently been appointed the Vice president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK.
Professor Tim Dafforn BSc PhD FIET
Tim Dafforn is a Professor at the University of Birmingham and founder of Linear Diagnostics Ltd. He has established himself as an expert in biophysical spectroscopy with a keen interest in synthetic biology. Professor Dafforn has developed a number of projects from inception through to commercial realisation.
One example, Linear Diagnostics Ltd uses the unique properties of bacteriophage as amplification elements in a novel biological assay system. Professor Dafforn is also currently the Director of Knowledge Transfer for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Birmingham.
Professor Dafforn was Chief Entrepreneurial Adviser at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) from November 2016 to October 2017.
Prior to this appointment he was Chief Scientific Adviser at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
Dr Simon Hart MEng PhD FIET
Dr Simon Hart is Chief Technology Innovation Officer and a Director of Innovation Catalyst (InnCat) which supports companies in their quest for differentiating innovation in various technology spaces.
Simon is a Chartered Engineer with over forty patents filed in the fields of power electronics, motor control and design, software systems, additive manufacturing, and thermal management techniques. He helps link industry and academia as an Honorary Associate Professor at Nottingham University, an ambassador for engineering and as a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
Formerly Simon was CTO and Chief Technology Innovation Officer at YASA, an Oxford University spin-out, where he founded and grew the electronics business and supported the transition to Mercedes Benz ownership. Simon was in the top three Technology Leaders in Wales in 2021. Before joining YASA Simon was with Emerson Control Techniques for 15 years and sponsored by SSD/Eurotherm drives for 3 years.
Simon has been an active IET volunteer for over two decades, technical (Chair of the Control and Automation TPN), local (Chair/Events/SLO Shropshire LN, Chair of the UKCC Finance Committee) and governance (Membership Board, Young Professional Champion Trustee, Audit Committee, Global Operations Board).
He served as Chair of the IET Benevolent Fund and Trustee for 6 years and believes that this charity has important aims which complement those of the IET with respect to being a Professional Home for Life.
Sam Hubbard BEng IEng FIET
An active IET volunteer since 1999, Sam Hubbard has served over 20 years on main boards or as a Trustee as well as representing the IET as a Trustee for the Engineering Council and has recently been elected as a Fellow.
Sam stepped out of university to take up an apprenticeship, experiencing the practical side of engineering and finding her true career call. Returning to university life part-time later, she has now worked in engineering for 30 years within paper manufacture and then nuclear.
Her experience includes the Lead Control Engineer at Shotton Paper and as a Senior Engineer at Urenco and has held positions as C,E&I Lead in Maintenance, as a System Engineer and more recently within Engineering and Projects. She enjoys the diversity of an engineering career, applying knowledge and standards to so many varied applications.
Passionate about promoting STEM, Sam has been doing this since she was an apprentice herself. In 2000, Sam won the Young Woman Engineer of the Year and later the WISE Excellence Award, this afforded her many more opportunities to speak to young people, particularly other females about the exciting prospects engineering holds. Countless school visits, recruitment events, competitions, national press and television coverage helped to get the message out.
Having held numerous roles with the IET including Trustee, Qualifications Board, Membership and Professional Development Board, Council, Communities Resourcing Committee, Finance and Investment and Audit and Risk Committee and various Local Network roles, she also was on the advisory group for the Professional Home for Life Programme and Apprentice Trailblazer pilot, ensuring that the voice of IEng and EngTech is well represented in all forums.
Sam’s aims to utilise her governance experience from the Engineering Council and her wealth of IET knowledge to contribute to the IET strategy. She has a passion for attracting and retaining women in engineering will contribute to the support of women at all ages within engineering and provide focus on menopause support and policies.
Eur Ing Dr Carol Marsh OBE EngD CEng FIET
Dr Carol Marsh is the Head of Digital Systems at Celestia-UK and a Visiting Professor at Edinburgh Napier University.
Carol graduated with an HND in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Edinburgh Napier University in 1985 and was awarded a degree of Doctor of Engineering in System Level Integration from the Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Heriot-Watt and Strathclyde in 2011.
She has worked in the field of electronics for almost 40 years, specialising in programmable logic.
Carol has published 8 papers including 2 journal papers, been featured in newspapers and magazines and presented many times including at the Edinburgh Science Festival. A winner of several technology and diversity awards, in 2020 Carol was awarded an OBE for Diversity and Inclusion in Electronic Engineering.
Carol is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institution of Engineers in Scotland, the Royal Scottish Society of Arts and the Women’s Engineering Society (WES). She is a Hammermen of Edinburgh, a Burgess of the City of Edinburgh, a STEM Ambassador and Past President of WES.
Carol is Chair of the Engineering Policy Group Scotland, Past Chair of the IET Council, IET Scotland and the Scotland South East Local Network, a Fellow Advisor and a Professional Registration Advisor and Interviewer.
Professor Sarah Spurgeon OBE FREng BSc DPhil CEng FIET
Sarah Spurgeon is Head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at UCL where she is also Professor of Control Engineering.
Sarah is a graduate of the University of York where she first studied Mathematics before completing a doctoral degree in Electronics. She previously worked as a researcher and academic at the Universities of Loughborough, Leicester and Kent.
Her research contributions were recognised by the award of the Honeywell International Medal for ‘distinguished contribution as a control and measurement technologist to developing the theory of control’ in 2010 and the award of an IEEE Millenium Medal in 2000.
From 2017-2019 Sarah was President of the Engineering Professors Council, the representative body for engineering in higher education, and worked in partnership with the IET to deliver a roadmap for engineering education in higher education.
She is currently a member of the Big Bang CIC Board whose principal activity is to deliver the Big Bang programme and has also served as a Board Member for EngineeringUK. This involvement reflects Sarah’s career-long commitment to inspiring the next generation of engineers as well as promoting the value of engineering to society.
On the international stage Sarah is currently Vice-President (Publications) for the International Federation of Automatic Control and is a council member of the European Control Association.
Within the UK, she is a Board Member of Dstl where she chairs the External Review College.
Ordinary Members
Katy Deacon BEng MEng CEng FIET
When her apprenticeship with British Airways ended, Katy Deacon held a first-class honours degree in Air Transport Engineering from City University, London. The difficulties in the aviation industry caused by 9/11 resulted in Katy moving her skills and knowledge to focus on electrical design in buildings. This developed, through her master’s degree in Advanced Engineering from Loughborough University, into a focus on renewables and low-carbon buildings.
She was the Chief Engineer, in charge of the development of the Kirklees Renewable Energy Toolkit which won the NICEIC Energy Efficiency Product of the Year.
In 2006, she was awarded the prestigious IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year award. This tremendous achievement was in recognition of her work to implement low carbon technologies within existing buildings.
Katy toured the UK, speaking at length to young people, encouraging them to consider taking up a career in the engineering sector. It was this hard work, which led her into a closer relationship with the IET.
The Women’s Engineering Society awarded Katy the Karen Burt Memorial Award in 2009, given to the best newly qualified Chartered Engineer, chosen from the disciplines of engineering, applied science and IT. Also that year, in her role as a Scout Leader, Katy inspired her Scouts to create an activity booklet encouraging young people to “Save a Tonne” of CO2 which was highly commended at the inaugural Yorkshire Post Environment Awards.
In 2012 she received a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis and became a wheelchair user. This did not stop her from pursuing her goals, however, she had to adjust her career focus to data governance and cyber security and develop strong strategic, change-management skills. It has made her resilient and tenacious in her approach to achieving positive outcomes.
Since then, Katy has become a wife and is the mother of two children, she was the Information Governance Manager & Data Protection Officer for Kirklees Council until recently.
Katy is also the IET Champion on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Chair of the EDI Working Party.
Anni Feng MEng CEng MIET
Anni is a chartered engineer in the UK with a background in computer and communication systems engineering. She has diverse design and advisory experience in various sectors, including healthcare, technology and transportation. She has worked on projects in America, Africa, Middle East, South Asia and across Europe.
Having started her career working on rail projects and spending two and a half years seconded to London Underground, Anni was recognised by Women in Rail as one of 20 Rising Stars of the UK Railway Industry in 2017.
Anni first gained her healthcare experience while on a long-term assignment in Canada. Since then, she has been the lead digital engineering advisor in the health workstream for the Peru Reconstruction programme and has led the digital workstream in a cancer centre design competition in the UK.
Anni is an Associate Director in the Intelligent Buildings Group at Hoare Lea. As a passionate advocate of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), Anni continues to champion embedding EDI into the day-to-day work, and strives to create an environment where everyone can flourish.
Anni joined the IET as a Student and has been an active volunteer since 2013. She was a member of the Local Networks, EngTalks Committee, Council and the Volunteer Engagement Board.
She was a Deputy Chair of Council and Chair of the Council Monitoring Governance Working Party.
Abbie Hutty MEng CEng FIMechE MIET
Abbie Hutty is a Chief Engineer at ispace Europe SA, where she leads the development of Lunar Rover missions. Prior to this role, she spent 12 years at Airbus Space in the UK, working primarily on Mars Rover missions.
Abbie is a chartered engineer, holding a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Surrey. She has been a member of the IET since 2014, and has been an active volunteer, sitting on various boards, committees, and on Council since then.
Abbie was elected a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers at only 29 years old; the youngest individual in the Institution’s history to achieve this status.
Alongside her day job, Abbie takes on many STEM Education and Outreach roles, promoting engineering careers and the study of STEM subjects to the next generation.
She often appears in print, radio, televisual and speaking roles in her capacity as an Engineer, including speaking at a UN conference, a TEDx talk, documentaries for broadcasters such as the BBC and Discovery Channel, appearing in the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, and on BBC Stargazing live with Brian Cox and Dara Ó Briain.
Abbie has received accolades including IMechE Young Member of the Year, IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year, Royal Academy of Engineering Rising Star, and winner of the Science category in the “Women of the Future Awards”.
In 2019 Abbie was named as one of the BA100; a list of 100 “makers of Modern Britain” compiled by British Airways in their centenary year who they consider to represent the best values of modern Britain.
Professor Ronjon Nag BSc MS PhD CEng FIET
Dr Ronjon Nag is an inventor and entrepreneur. He is Adjunct Professor in Genetics in the Stanford School of Medicine and Visiting Fellow at the Stanford Center for Language and Information, teaching courses in artificial intelligence, healthcare venture capital aging science and longevity technology. He is founder of the R42 Group which invents, informs and invests.
He has won the 2021 IEEE-SCV Outstanding Engineer award, the IET Mountbatten Medal, and the $1m Verizon Powerful Answers Award (for Bounce Imaging where he is Chairman). He is a founder and advisor/board member and part owner of some 80 AI and Biotech start-ups. His companies have been sold to Apple, BlackBerry, and Motorola.
Ronjon pioneered text prediction, voice and handwriting recognition, including Chinese, for mobile devices. In 1999, he invented the first mobile app stores, deploying at Orange, Vodafone, SprintNextel, AT&T, Airtel, Telstra and many others, resulting in billions of downloads and presaging an industry employing millions of engineers.
He has historically been involved in numerous product firsts. More recently Ronjon has been applying concepts of computer science and mathematics to biology.
Active in the IET, he gave the 2020 AI in Healthcare lecture series, created the IET Introduction to AI Online Course, and served on the Knowledge Services and Solutions Board and Council.
Brigadier Andy Rogers BEng PGCert CEng FIET
Andy Rogers is a British Army Officer with over 27 years of leadership experience in engineering environments. He currently works at the NATO Rapid Reaction Corps Headquarters in Lille, France.
He originally joined the IEE in 1993 whilst studying for his Electronic Engineering Degree. He was commissioned into the Army in 1997, and as a proven strategic planner with international experience, he has commanded engineering teams at every level and worked in project teams with civil servants at the Defence Procurement Organisation in Bristol.
As a French speaker, Andy completed the Advanced War College in Paris, he has been the Military Assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander of NATO Operations in Belgium and he has commanded a Battalion of over 460 operational technicians, providing direct engineering advice to the Field Army.
He has conducted multiple operational deployments around the world, including Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq, and Chad, and he recently returned from helping to coordinate and integrate the international donations of military capability into Ukraine in 2023.
Andy was the REME Corps Colonel until 2021, the professional head of 8000 technical soldiers and engineering officers, he then spent the next 12 months in academia, studying global security, stability and prosperity at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.
Before becoming a Trustee, he was a member of the IET Council for three years and was on the Membership and Professional Development Board. He has also been a Trustee and Director of the REME Charity since 2019. In his spare time, he is a passionate skier and a qualified instructor.
Mamta Singhal MBE BEng MSc MBA CEng FIET
Mamta Singhal graduated from her BEng (Hons) in Product Design Engineering in 2001 from Glasgow University/Glasgow School of Art, her MSc from Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management in 2002 and then her MBA with distinction from Strathclyde International Business School in 2009. During her MBA she was in the top 4 global for AMBA’s MBA student of the year.
She began working as a trainee engineer at Polaroid and then moved on to Dyson Ltd graduate scheme in 2004. She then progressed to a Global Design Engineer for Toy Manufacturer Hasbro Inc where she combined creativity, engineering, manufacturing, technology and sharp project management skills.
Over her two decades following her graduation she has worked for massive global players in technical, manufacturing and supply chain roles for firms such as Coca-Cola European Partners, Mars Chocolate, Mattel and most recently Diageo Plc.
Mamta has taken an active and passion role in supporting those with neuro-diverse thinking and those from culturally diverse backgrounds. She is a tri-national herself and has worked globally for most of her career as well lived range of countries.
She is a Visiting Professor at Middlesex University, sits on the Women's Engineering Society (WES) Board of Trustees. Active in the STEM outreach forums including being a spokesperson at times for the IET, Royal Academy of Engineering, WES, Engineering Council, Stemettes and many others.
Speaking to the BBC, ITV news and a range of other national and local networks about the important role that engineers play in society.
In 2021 she was awarded IET Fellowship and the year before she gained her WES Fellowship. She was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year's Honours List for services to engineering.
She was a member of the Council and the Volunteer Engagement Board for 3 years and sat on the IET Manufacturing Policy Panel and Neurodiversity Network. She has given talks at the IET Open House events and other key IET activities.
In 2008 she won the IET WES Young Women Engineer of the Year Prize and went on to judge and chair the award on a number of occasions. She has also judged the IET Global Innovation Awards. She also appeared in the award-winning IET's 'Portrait of an Engineer' campaign in 2017 which featured in the Cosmopolitan Magazine.
She is always taken aback when people still say 'You don't look like an engineer'!