Professor David Knowles FREng, CEO of the Henry Royce Institute, has been awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours List for services to industry and academia.
Professor Knowles has built a varied career spanning both academia and industry, with expertise in structural engineering, materials science and innovation and has retained a Professor of Nuclear Engineering role at the University of Bristol over the last decade.
His work has focused primarily on the application of advanced materials and engineering research to address major industrial and national challenges across transport, energy, petrochemical and infrastructure sectors.
Responding to the award, Professor Knowles said:
“I feel incredibly privileged and proud to have received this honour. It is a recognition not just of my own work, but of everything that the outstanding teams and institutes I’ve been fortunate to be part of have achieved together over many years.
“I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the many colleagues and collaborators I’ve worked alongside across academia, industry and government. Their talent, dedication and shared commitment to innovation have been central to everything we have accomplished.
“Naturally, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family, past and present, whose encouragement and support have sustained me along the way.
“I believe this recognition also reflects the growing importance of materials science to the UK’s future prosperity and resilience, underpinning our manufacturing economy and a huge diversity of sectors. I hope it will act as a springboard for the next decade of ambition across the Henry Royce Institute and the wider UK materials engineering community with an even greater focus on translation, investment and demonstrating real-world impact.”
Royce Chair, Professor Paul Monks added:
“On behalf of the Henry Royce Institute I am delighted to congratulate David on this richly deserved recognition. His award of a CBE reflects a long career dedicated to advancing engineering and materials science and strengthening collaboration between academia and industry.
“Since becoming CEO of Royce David has provided outstanding leadership at a pivotal time for materials innovation, driving a national vision for the materials community and helping to bring together researchers, industry leaders and policymakers around shared priorities.
“David combines deep technical expertise with a commitment to developing people and partnerships and I am grateful for the leadership, energy and ambition he continues to bring to Royce and the wider materials community.”
Leadership
As CEO of the Henry Royce Institute, Professor Knowles has led initiatives aimed at strengthening the UK’s advanced materials capability, supporting collaboration between universities, industry and government and accelerating the translation of research into industrial application.
A significant aspect of Professor David Knowles’s leadership has been his role in shaping a more coordinated national approach to materials innovation across the UK. As CEO of Royce, he has led the development of the National Materials Innovation Strategy, bringing together stakeholders from industry, academia and government to help establish shared priorities for the sector and support future policy development.
He has also played a central role in establishing the National Materials Innovation Leadership Group, Chaired by Allan Cook CBE and working closely with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), helping to strengthen collaboration across the UK materials community and provide a more unified voice for the sector in support of national materials science and economic objectives.
Professor Knowles has contributed extensively to research and programme leadership in materials engineering and materials performance, including work to underpin the integrity of gas turbines, nuclear reactors and boilers, offshore wind and the petrochemical sector.
He has played a leading role in programmes exploring the application of data centric technologies and machine learning in engineering assessment and materials research, including the major national programmes such as ‘Sindri’ focused on (Synergistic) utilisation of Informatics and Data centric Integrity engineering in the nuclear industry.
Alongside his research and leadership responsibilities, Professor Knowles has recognised the value and development opportunities of working in teams. He has championed the development of a future engineering and materials science talent pipeline through both mentoring roles in industry and university-based postgraduate training and doctoral education initiatives.
