Sir Jim McDonald GBE announced as the new Chair of the Enginuity Group

Today, the Enginuity Group is pleased to announce Sir Jim McDonald GBE, FREng FRSE FIET FInstP as its new Chair.

Sir Jim succeeds Dame Judith Hackitt DBE FREng FIChemE FCGI as the Chair of Enginuity and EAL. His decision to join the group, highlights the importance of the roles both organisations play in creating a skills system that keeps pace with the changing needs of UK engineering.  

We are delighted that we have attracted one of the UK’s most accomplished engineers to follow in Dame Judith’s footsteps as the Chair of both Enginuity and EAL. We sincerely thank Dame Judith for her supportive leadership over the past eight years. She has led Enginuity through many changes and challenges and helped create the group as it exists today.

Sir Jim, current President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, is one of Scotland’s most accomplished engineers, and co-chairs the Scottish Government’s Energy Advisory Board with the First Minister.

Brought up in Govan, the shipbuilding district in the heart of Glasgow, Sir Jim studied for his first degree in electronic and electrical engineering at the University of Strathclyde and started his engineering career as a graduate apprentice on the Scottish Electrical Training Scheme.

He worked in the electrical utility sector for seven years and returned to the University of Strathclyde in 1984 as a University Grants Commission New Blood Lecturer in Electrical Engineering. His experience with the energy sector He was appointed to the Rolls-Royce Chair in Electrical Power Systems in 1993 and became Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in March 2009.

In HM The Queen’s Jubilee Birthday Honours List in June 2012, Sir Jim was awarded a knighthood for services to education, engineering and the economy. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross in the 2024 New Year Honours list for services to engineering, to education and to energy.

Sir Jim McDonald, new Chair of Enginuity, says:

“I am delighted to follow Dame Judith as Chair of the Enginuity Board. It has been one of my career-long ambitions for as many young people as possible to pursue a career in engineering. Engineers can change the world and a career in engineering offers the exciting opportunity to benefit society, the economy and sustainability.

“I’ve often advocated for a systems engineering approach to net zero, but we need to also apply the same thinking to our skills system, to ensure UK engineering and manufacturing skills employers have the people and capabilities required to seize the opportunities created by decarbonisation, electrification, digitisation and advanced manufacturing. The Enginuity Group continues to do vital work, both within vocational education and beyond, in pursuing new systemic solutions to skills gaps.

“I look forward to working with my fellow Board members, Ann and the rest of the fantastic team at Enginuity to help find cross-industry approaches to solve the common skills challenges faced by UK manufacturing and engineering.”