But Clive’s story began, not in a laboratory, but in a workshop - and with a dream of driving trains.
From the railways to renal care
“As a child, I wanted to be an engine driver - steam or diesel,” Clive laughs. “Unfortunately, the careers adviser didn’t have that on the list, so I had to think again.”
Encouraged by family friends who were both engineers, and with parents who nurtured his love of technical drawing, Clive pursued mechanical engineering at Trent Polytechnic, sponsored by Ruston-Bucyrus. His route wasn’t straightforward - he jokes that he failed maths and physics so badly that he failed to get half the points required for entry - but an understanding admissions officer saw potential and gave him a place.
“That one act of faith changed everything,” he says. “It’s why I always say that my heroes include Richard Feynman - because he made the complex understandable, he switched across so many disciplines and was creative in all of them. And of course, the anonymous lady at Trent who believed in me when the numbers didn’t.”
Innovation grounded in curiosity
After his undergraduate and master’s degrees, Clive joined British Leyland Technology in 1984, later becoming part of the Rover Group and then BMW. At BMW, he pioneered non-contact optical measurement techniques to analyse stresses, vibrations, and fluid flows in vehicles. Along the way, he completed his total technology PhD at Cranfield, blending holography research with a business school component on managing multi-technology research portfolios.
“Cranfield’s innovative approach to PhDs at the time - rooted in industry and multidisciplinary thinking - gave me the early career boost I needed,” he says. “It stopped me becoming siloed in one specialism and encouraged me to think broadly about how engineering connects to business, people, and purpose.”
That ethos of curiosity has stayed with him throughout his career. “My advice to my younger self would be simple,” he reflects. “Be curious about everything happening around you. You never know which idea might cross-fertilise and spark something new.”
From cars to clinics
After senior roles at Melles Griot and IMI Vision, Clive’s expertise turned toward medical engineering. At IMI, he helped develop novel exhaust systems for emissions reduction before leading the team that spun out Quanta Dialysis Technologies.
Now, as Co-Founder and Fellow of Engineering, he directs a team of over 50 engineers, overseeing product development, clinical evaluation, and regulatory strategy. Under his leadership, Quanta has raised more than $600 million in venture capital and achieved both CE and FDA approval for its dialysis systems. “Creating a company and saving lives - it’s the kind of opportunity that comes once in an engineer’s lifetime,” Clive says.
His innovative spirit has been recognised with multiple honours, including a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering, an Honorary Professorship at Heriot-Watt University, and the 2022 MacRobert Award - the UK’s most prestigious recognition for engineering innovation.
Lessons from Cranfield
When asked about his favourite Cranfield memory, Clive grins. “My viva was definitely not one of them - it was terrifying, and I wasn’t very good on the day! But one of my best memories was attending a lecture from an Apple employee at the business school. It was about innovation and start-up mentality - completely different to my own work at the time, but it changed how I thought about creativity and risk.”
Those ideas would eventually underpin his own success as an innovator and entrepreneur.
“That total technology model - the combination of technical research and business thinking - has shaped everything I’ve done since,” he says. “Whether it’s automotive, optics or medical engineering, the ability to connect disciplines has been the constant thread.”
Pride, perspective and parachutes
Clive is most proud of two things above all else - his family and the impact of his work. “Our children, Hector and Kitty, of course,” he says. “But also, the knowledge that something we created is giving people their lives back.”
He lives by a favourite Frank Zappa quote: “A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it’s not open.” It’s a philosophy that has guided him from his early days tinkering with designs to his current role shaping the future of medical technology.
For all the breakthroughs, awards and achievements, Clive is quick to point to the support that has made it all possible. “None of this would have happened without the support from my wife, Luise,” he says. “She gives me the time, space and encouragement to take these risks. That support has underpinned everything.”
And as for what comes next? His “bucket list” still includes adventure: trekking the Arabian desert from Oman and crossing Svalbard by dog sled.
For now, though, his greatest journey may be the one he’s already travelled - from a boy who failed physics to a professor whose ideas are saving lives.
Alumni award winner lecture
At the 2025 alumni awards, Professor Clive Buckberry MBE FREng gave a lecture on 'Juice dispensing to dialysis - Lessons from a journey of innovation'. Cranfield alumni can watch the lecture on demand and learn more about this area through your Alumni Library Online resources.
