First female expected to take up presidency of Royal Academy of Engineering

Professor Dame Ann Dowling FREng FRS has been nominated as president of the Royal Academy of Engineering and is expected to be appointed its first female president in September this year. Dame Ann is a mechanical engineer and is currently head of the engineering department at the University of Cambridge, where she became the first female professor in 1998. Allan Cook, Atkins’ chairman and fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering welcomed the nomination and commented: “Dame Ann’s nomination is great news for the engineering sector, and women in particular. Engineers have a key role to play in the UK’s economic success and in creating a better future for us all. We must inspire more young people, but especially girls, to consider careers in the exciting world of modern engineering. Dame Ann would help shine a light for women to consider careers from communications to computer games, medicine to motorsport, software and cyber-security, tunnels to skyscrapers, aerospace to railways.”