Pam Liversidge OBE DL FREng CEng HonFIMechE FCGI FRSA was honoured at the 167th Annual Meeting on 28 May, by then-President of the Institution Patrick Kniveton. In recognition of her tremendous leadership, and for her many achievements in, and contributions to, manufacturing and engineering, she was inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Stephen Tetlow, Chief Executive of the Institution, gave the citation, outlining Pam’s many career highlights, and her tremendous contribution to the shape and progress of the Institution. Stephen commented:
“Pam has achieved many ‘firsts’ in her career. She is held in very high regard by her peers and represents mechanical, medical, and manufacturing engineering from the grass roots, as an engineer, manufacturer, entrepreneur, advocate and enthusiast for British industry, and she is very much an ‘engineer of our time’.”
Pam said she was incredibly humbled to be invited to join this prestigious body of engineers, and was delighted to receive the honour and join the impressive ranks of
Honorary Fellows of the Institution.
“I was proud to become the first woman president in any of the ‘big four’ engineering Institutions. 1997 was a year of celebration and a year of significant change: and I decided to follow a new path with my presidential address. We were marking 150 years of the Institution. Rather than writing about my own career, as had been the tradition among presidents, I wrote about people’s lives and how they had changed in the 150 years between 1847 and 1997. It was my contention, in ‘
Creating a Better Lifestyle’, that scientists and engineers made the positive differences in people’s lives during those 150 years.”
After graduating from Aston University, Pam worked for GKN, and moved onto forging before joining the electricity supply industry, eventually becoming Divisional Director of East Midlands Electricity plc. In 1993 she set up her own business to manufacture specialist metal powders, notably for medical engineering, and since 1999 has been Managing Director of Quest Investments, a holding company for several engineering enterprises. Pam was awarded the OBE in 1999 and has received numerous honorary doctorates from many universities, including the University of Sheffield. Pam was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1971, a Member in 1980 and a Fellow in 1988.
She was elected to Council in 1989; a Vice-President in 1993; Deputy President in 1995; she became President in 1997; and served as a Past-President on the Council 1998-2002.
Pam was joined at the Honorary Fellowship induction by her husband, Douglas. Pam said:
“Being President takes a year out of your life, but I’m jolly glad I took it on. It was a rewarding and enjoyable year for me, and I hope it made a difference to the Institution. It is not realistic to suggest that a presidency is just one person: my husband’s support and that of the team around me and wider members of the Institution made it a success, I think.”
During her time as President, Pam initiated the ‘moving forward’ change programme. This was a far-reaching review of the Institution's activities, and she directed the implementation of the changes. This enabled the Institution to understand the way the mechanical engineering profession was changing, such as developing into important new areas such as medical engineering.
She recalls the initial days of her presidency and the conviction that she, and her fellow senior leaders at the Institution, held: that change was essential to ensure the future of the Institution:
“The day after I became president, I invited the deputy president and vice-president to join me off-site. We were concerned by real issues: a dwindling pool of engineers; an Institution in danger of becoming irrelevant and facing atrophy. We agreed that we had to do something. That was the foundation of the 10-year ‘moving forward’ programme, the basis of our now-thriving Institution. Change is not always popular, but I wanted the Institution to be the ‘home’ of mechanical engineering, not elitist, not exclusive. I wanted people to come to us because of their passion for mechanical engineering, not just because they had earned the right to call themselves members.”
“My objective was to make membership the aspiration for all mechanical engineers. 1997 was a landmark; the mood and environment for change was increasingly recognised, and we knew that competition for our members’ attention, from other sources, was a threat to our survival as an Institution. We needed to raise our game, or our pool of members would decrease.”
One Birdcage Walk, the Institution’s London headquarters has a special place in Pam’s heart, as it does for many members who have visited the impressive building. She says:
“We are a big institution, we have longevity, we are stable, and we have a remarkable base in One Birdcage Walk, a place of heritage and beauty.”
Pam highlights two or three events which stood out for her during her year in office. As it was an anniversary year, she says, she managed to visit almost every region’s celebrations. She particularly remembers attending the Greater London Branch’s cocktail party, held in the Tower of London’s Jewel Room and on the walkway of Tower Bridge. Just after Pam had delivered her speech, a boat sailed along the Thames, and she was quickly called to perform a new role:
“I dashed down to the control room, as the boat approached the bridge. I pressed the buttons to stop the traffic, and then pulled the lever to raise the road, which became so vertical in front of me, I was astounded. It seems to lift for ever! I was awarded a certificate: there I was in evening dress, chatting with the guy who usually did the job – it is such a treasured memory for me.”
Pam recalls another memorable experience:
“During my year, the engineering excellence of the Eurostar and Channel Tunnel were honoured by the Institution as major engineering achievements. Sir Alastair Morton (who had just finished as Chairman of the Channel Tunnel Company) and I, and many other dignitaries, were invited to travel to Lille by Eurostar – and to my delight, I was allowed to ride in the train cab! It was thrilling to experience the tunnel from the front; it was a revelation, not straight at all, but weaving up and down, following the strata of the softer rock. And when we speeded up on the French side, it was unbelievable! I asked the driver how he could see anything – he said he just had to concentrate on the signal alerts within the cab – and braking could also be applied from the side of the line if he didn’t slow down. It was quite fantastic.”
Very early in her role, Pam was invited to Japan, to address that country’s learned engineering Institution, which was, in 1997, celebrating its centenary. Pam also worked hard to raise the profile of engineering across the UK.
“I felt passionately that the public really didn’t understand the role that engineers and scientists had played in our history and in what we enjoy and benefit from today. Years ago, when I used to do lots of talks to school students, I used to show them a photo of a baby in an incubator, and I would ask, ‘who saved the baby?’. Suggestions included nurses and doctors: very few thought of the engineer who had designed the incubator, the life-saving solution.”
“I didn’t make women in engineering a particular focus during my year. I felt that I could achieve more by demonstrating that I was able to make a genuine contribution to the Institution, such as its longevity. Engineers must send out a positive message, get to the top in organisations, show ambition and make a difference. Overall, the UK still trails well behind other countries when we look at the proportion of females in the engineering profession.”
Pam says she is proud of the Institution’s position today, and the shape of the engineering profession. Slowly, she feels, the perception of the industry may be changing.
“Engineering is as much about people as it is about machines. Today, it’s also about teams, interaction, customers and peers. The Institution’s annual Formula Student competition is a brilliant example which prepares students for careers in engineering. It also grabs the imagination – and that’s a great quality for an engineer”
Pam was High Sheriff of South Yorkshire 2004-5 and has held multiple industry and business leadership roles. Her husband Douglas was elected as Master of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire in 1998 and so Pam became the Mistress Cutler. From 2011 to 2012 she was Master Cutler of the Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire, the first woman to hold this post.
Pam says that two things have already distinguished 2014 for her. She feels honoured that a building has been given her name within her lifetime: the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Sheffield named its new postgraduate Engineering and Research site ‘The Pam Liversidge Building’. That, and the prestigious Honorary Fellowship of the Institution, she says, “have made this an amazing year”.
Pam concludes:
“If you ask me how I feel about the Institution, my answer is based not on the role of President, nor as an Honorary Fellow, but simply as a member. I feel enormously proud to be part of an organisation that has a very high reputation, a place in society, and one that is a modern, inclusive – not elitist – institution. I feel today, as much as ever, honoured to be part of it.”
Honorary Fellows of the Institution Read Pam Liversidge’s Presidential Address, Creating a Better Lifestyle