Recognising exceptional contribution - How individuals can be elected Fellows of IMechE regardless of age, rank and position

Fellow is the highest form of membership within an engineering institution. It confirms an individual’s influence, impact and support for other engineers and technicians as well as the wider community.

Jay Partington, Chief Petty Officer within the Fleet Air Arm, is no stranger to going above and beyond his role to support others and to represent the Royal Navy and IMechE.  As the first Chief Petty Officer to achieve Fellow status with the IMechE, his story is one to inspire others to aim for this exceptional recognition.

Jay says: “I didn’t know anyone who was a Fellow except through the Royal Navy route, where you need to be Commander or above to apply. However, I received an email from IMechE about a Fellow workshop and I was keen to find out more about the Standard route.”

Jay attended the IMechE Fellow workshop over Teams and adds: “It was a very useful session with top tips which were reassuring. Lots of people asked questions and it gave me the confidence to think that I could apply.” His deployment to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the demands of the operation and the fact that he was acting with the responsibilities of a Lt Cdr, gave Jay useful experience to showcase in his application.

He continues: “In the Royal Navy you often deploy without an engineering officer, so you get the chance to do more, and you have to think outside the box.”

Not only is Jay an experienced and influential engineer, but he also contributes his time by volunteering for the Institution. As a professional review interviewer and now an Industry Liaison Officer (ILO) at RNAS Yeovilton, he is supporting personnel to achieve their professional registration with IMechE.  He encourages personnel to get started with an engineering institution as soon as possible, achieving EngTech at an early point in their career.

Jay adds: “I am particularly grateful to my sponsor, who helped me to shape my application and really encouraged me to bring out the strengths. They were patient, reviewing seven re-writes of my form, which shows they were really reading it, not just putting their name to it.”

Jay adds, “The opportunity to apply for Fellow is open to anyone. Look carefully at the criteria and very often the evidence is already there in your career, it’s a question of putting together your application.  I would be happy to speak to others about the process.”

He concluded: “I am really proud of myself.”

Well done Jay, it’s wonderful achievement.

You can see more about the Standard route to Fellow here