Institution news
The awards have been celebrated by Jaguar Land Rover for over 10 years. This year the company highlighted the work of 176 individuals and teams, including the professional registration and development of over 36 members and Fellows of the Institution. The key note speaker was Professor Richard Parry-Jones CBE FREng FIMechE FRSS. Nick Rogers CEng FIMechE, Executive Director Product Engineering Jaguar Land Rover, delivered the introduction.
José Lopes CCMI CEng FIET FIMechE Head of Technical Excellence, who coordinates the awards with cooperation of department heads across the business, said: “For Jaguar Land Rover, highly skilled and competent engineers, technicians and designers are the enablers for us to deliver the vehicles that customers love for life. It is fantastic to celebrate the great talent and commitment demonstrated by people each year in pursuing professional registration.”
The President of the Institution, Jon Hilton CEng FIMechE, attended the awards event, which was held at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon.
Jon presented David Hird CEng MIMechE with the Institution's Mentor of the Year Award. Jaguar Land Rover’s long-running Monitored Professional Development Scheme (MPDS) is accredited by the Institution.
Jon said: “Mentors contribute so much to the learning and support of graduate engineers. They have demonstrated their own commitment to professional development and to their company’s structured training – MPDS – in taking on this role. It is a great pleasure to congratulate David Hird on his outstanding work as a mentor, as part of this celebration of excellence.”
David commented: “Mentoring my colleagues through the Institution's scheme is rewarding on a number of levels. Not only do I get to witness the rapid rate of development of mentees but there is also the learning I get from understanding the projects and new technologies that they are involved in.”
There were awards for a range of technical skills, team achievements and design and innovation, as well as professional personal achievements. The awards honoured two Fellows and 28 newly Chartered Engineer members of the Institution as well as two Engineering Technicians and one Incorporated Engineer.
Mark Organ of the IET presented Jon Whitehouse CEng MIET with the IET Mentor of the Year Award. Jon Hilton and Mark Organ jointly presented the IMechE and IET Special Award to Octavia Wisbey MIET.