Institution news
This new medal was unveiled by Automobile Division Chair Andrew Fraser, at an event at the Institution’s headquarters in Westminster attended by IMechE President Giles Hartill, Tim Slatter, Chair of Ford in Britain and Dr Graham Hoare, Chair of the UK Automotive Council.
Applications for the award are now open, with a closing deadline of 30 September 2023.
Richard Parry Jones, who was a Fellow of the Institution, is best remembered for bringing a new, much higher standard of vehicle dynamics to Ford’s European cars, starting with the Mondeo in 1993, progressing through the line up to the 1998 Ford Focus, which redefined the industry for vehicles of its class.
In 1999, Richard was appointed Ford's Global Head of Product Development and in 2001 he became Chief Technical Officer, giving him global leadership of over 30,000 engineers, not only at Ford, but also at Ford’s other brands at the time, including Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo and Mazda. On retirement from Ford in 2007, he became an advisor to Government on the transition to a low carbon future and co-chaired the UK Automotive Council.
Tony Pixton, a former executive director at Ford and long-time colleague of Richard Parry-Jones (often referred to as simply ‘RPJ’) said:
Richard pioneered a new approach to vehicle design and changed the way we developed cars in Europe. The RPJ mindset is now found everywhere in the industry.
Tim Slatter said:
The impact Richard had on the company is difficult to measure. He personally made a big impression on me.
Richard Parry-Jones was awarded the Institution’s James Watt International Gold Medal in 2014 for his outstanding contribution to the automotive industry. He was also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a Visiting Professor at Loughborough University.