If you are interested in attending, please contact Nina Hancock (email n.hancock@imperial.ac.uk)
Abstract
Ric Parker retired this year after 37 years with Rolls-Royce, the last 15 as Director of Research and Technology (the longest serving Chief Technology Officer in the FTSE 100). After he graduated from Imperial College and completed research jointly at Imperial and the National Phyiscal Laboratoyr, Ric joined Rolls-Royce to apply lasers to measurement in harsh environments. He went on to lead Advanced Materials Research (Composites, Ceramics, etc.) and became a leader in Compressor Design.
In his last 15 years he has been responsible for the entire technology portfolio of this major British engineering company, now with global reach. He enhanced and supported the Rolls-Royce UTC model which has the Company working closely with 31 University Technology Centres worldwide (Imperial has two). He will review the technologies he has been close to, but also look forward to those technological developments which those who follow must bring to the market. The cryptic title will also be explained, so do come along.
About the speaker
Recently retired, Richard (Ric) Parker was Director of Research & Technology, Rolls-Royce Group from January 2001 to March 2016. He was responsible for direction and co-ordination of Research & Technology programmes across all the Rolls-Royce businesses, worldwide. Ric joined Rolls-Royce in 1978.
Ric was awarded a CBE in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List for “Services to Engineering”. In 2014 he was voted European CTO (Chief Technology Officer) of the Year- 2014. In 2015 he was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Medal.
Ric is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is a Liveryman in the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
Ric gained a BSc in Physics at Imperial College, London in 1975 and an MBA with distinction at Loughborough University in 1992. He has Doctorates (honoris causa) from Pusan National University, Korea and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; and from Loughborough University, Sheffield University and Heriot Watt University, in the UK. He is a visiting Professor in Aerospace Technology at Loughborough University and an Honorary Professor in Materials Engineering at Birmingham University, UK.
Ric is married to Jenette, has two daughters, and has homes in Littleover, Derby and Nine Elms, London, UK.