Professor Yewande Akinola MBE, Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at Westminster, has been elected as an Honorary Fellow at the Royal Academy.
The Royal Academy of Engineering is a charity that harnesses the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and inclusive economy, driving innovation and building global partnerships to tackle the growing challenges of today.
Professor Akinola is one of 69 new Fellows as the first to reflect the Academy’s Fellowship Fit for the Future initiative to drive more nominations of outstanding engineers from underrepresented groups.
The election as an Honorary Fellow recognises those who the Academy considers having made exceptionally distinguished contributions to engineering, and no longer consider themselves as practising engineers.
Professor Akinola was elected in recognition of her career in design and engineering, and her work challenging narrow stereotypes of who engineers are and the difference they make.
She is an established engineer, communicator and sustainability advocate, specialising in innovation and the manufacturing of systems. She also runs career events at Westminster which allow students to gain an understanding what it would be like to work in construction and design consultancy companies. Professor Akinola is also a prominent voice in the movement to increase diversity within engineering. In 2019, she was named one of the UK and Europe’s most influential women in engineering by the Financial Times and executive search agency, Inclusive Boards.
Additionally, she has undertaken several voluntary roles to support the engineering profession, including as Trustee for the Institution of Engineering and Technology and member of the Academy’s Africa Catalyst Steering Committee.
Speaking about the newly elected Fellows, Sir Jim McDonald FREng FRSE, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “Our Fellows represent the best of the best in the engineering world, and we welcome these 69 excellent and talented professionals to our community of businesspeople, entrepreneurs, innovators and academics.
“This year’s new Fellows are the most diverse group elected in the history of our institution. The engineering profession has long suffered from a diversity shortfall and the Academy is committed to changing that, including by ensuring that our own Fellowship community is as inclusive as it can be. It is well established that diverse organisations tend to be more agile and more innovative, and as the UK’s National Academy for engineering and technology, we have a responsibility to reflect the society we serve in addressing the shared challenges of our future.”
Professor Yewande also gave an inaugural lecture at Westminster in March, and was appointed UK Ambassador for Clean Growth and Infrastructure earlier this year.
More information about the 2021 Fellows is available on the Royal Academy website.
