The Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award: Celebrating the long-term achievements of outstanding alumni in the industry.
The Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award is one of Cranfield University’s highest honours. It recognises those individuals who have achieved significant success within the manufacturing industry/sector, while upholding the highest standards in industry practice.
Alumni who have won this award will:
Have sustained professional achievement at the highest levels: professional achievement may be viewed in terms of:
Technology/engineering/commercial leadership.
Achieving transformational change in an organisation.
Significant and successful project management.
Contribution to company profitability and job creation.
Significant impact on their industry and sector, beyond their own role and organisation.
Have international visibility: influence/experience working across different geographic regions.
Be regarded as a role model for leadership.
Demonstrated innovation and creativity.
Be committed to sustainability: reducing the negative impact of aerospace on environment.
Achieved other awards and recognitions.
Have a previous relationship with Cranfield or be committed to supporting Cranfield in the future.
Meet the 2024 Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award Winner
Dr Simon Bourne (PhD in the School of Mechanical Engineering 2000)
Chief Technology Officer at ITM Power
Dr Simon Bourne is a trailblazer in the clean energy sector whose leadership and technical expertise have revolutionised the field of green hydrogen production.
With over 20 years of experience, Simon’s career has been marked by his deep knowledge of ultrasonic testing and his unwavering commitment to innovation. Since joining ITM Power in 2002 as a Research Manager, Simon’s impact has been profound. His leadership in research and development, as well as in product and sales functions, has been instrumental in shaping the company’s core technology. His efforts culminated in the successful realisation of ITM’s electrolyser platform, a breakthrough in the hydrogen energy sector.
Simon’s outstanding contributions include the delivery of two flagship projects: the world’s first PEM Power-to-Gas system in 2013 and Europe’s largest PEM electrolyser at Shell’s Energy and Chemicals Park in Wesseling, Germany. These pioneering projects underscore his forward-thinking approach and his dedication to the global energy transition.
Before joining ITM, Simon honed his technical expertise as a Project Engineer at Sonatest and as a researcher at the Ministry of Defence. His extensive knowledge and leadership in sustainable technologies have established him as an influential figure in clean energy and a speaker at global conferences.
Simon has played a pivotal role in advancing sustainable energy solutions through the design and manufacturing of cutting-edge electrolysers. His visionary work continues to shape the future of clean energy, setting new benchmarks for innovation and sustainability.
Meet the 2023 Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award Winner
Steve Phillips FIET (Fellowship in Manufacturing Management 1992)
Fractional Executive CIO/CISO/CRO, TAG CXO
Steve Phillips is a people-first leader who inspires and builds sustainable teams that deliver outstanding results.
In his 25-year career as an information technology leader, Steve has set and delivered digital transformation strategies that propel innovation and top and bottom-line growth, as well as offer competitive differentiation. His career also includes leading companies through complex mergers and acquisitions, a process that requires knowledge and expertise from a tech perspective.
During his career, Steve has optimised margins by reducing IT expenses by $20 million, while simultaneously improving system service levels by 50% and introducing new technologies that drove material revenue growth. He has also developed and delivered digital platforms that support new go-to-market business models such as e-commerce, services delivery and reverse logistics and led on the deployment of Artificial Intelligence, Robotic Process Automation and chatbot technology to optimise operational and financial performance, which enabled $125M of new digital revenue. His people-first approach is demonstrated through the successful mentoring of multiple senior IT leaders into CIO/exec board roles.
Steve has a number of achievements to his name including being a CIO Hall of Fame Inductee, a MIT Sloan CIO Leadership Award Finalist and receiving the HMG Strategy Transformational CIO Leadership Award. He is also a Fellow of the UK Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Meet the 2022 Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award winner
Dr Peter Thompson FREng FInstP FRSC (PhD in the School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science 1992)
CEO, National Physical Laboratory
Dr Peter Thompson FREng FInstP FRSC is CEO of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Metrology Institute (NMI), which is widely regarded as one of the leading NMIs in the world.
Peter joined NPL as CEO in 2015 and has overseen the laboratory’s development and growth in recent years aligned to the UK’s National Challenges. This has included providing strategic leadership and oversight of NPL-led programmes including the Cancer Research UK Rosetta Cancer Grand Challenge, National Timing Centre programme, Quantum programme, Measurement for a Recovery programme and the Advanced Machinery and Productivity initiative.
Peter holds several international advisory positions, including on the International Advisory Board of the National Institute of Metrology (NIM) in China, as well as advising nationally in areas such as the National Quantum Technologies Programme (NQTP).
Peter brings a passion for diversity and inclusion in science and engineering and a focus on maximising impact for end users. His previous roles include strategic advisor to MOD’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Board Member and Deputy Chief Executive of Dstl and Head of the Counter Terrorism, Science and Technology Centre.
Peter is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the recipient of two MOD Chief Scientific Advisor Commendations and the US NIMUC award.
Peter said: “I am delighted and honoured to be awarded the Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award. I have fond memories of my time at Cranfield University having studied at the School of Industrial and Manufacturing Science. What I learnt during those years has stayed with me throughout my career and I am grateful to the university for recognising my subsequent work.”
Meet the 2021 Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award Winner
Dr Pam Murrell FICME (PhD in the School of Applied Sciences 1990)
Chief Executive, Cast Metals Federation
Pam Murrell is the Chief Executive of the Cast Metals Federation (CMF), the Trade Association for the UK casting industry. The CMF represents and supports its members (UK foundries and suppliers to the industry) and is the UK member of the European Foundry Association (CAEF).
Pam completed a PhD on Fracture and Fatigue at Cranfield University, following a BSc Hons Degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Cardiff University.
She is a Fellow of the Institute of Cast Metals Engineers (ICME), a Board member of the European Investment Casters’ Federation, a Trustee of the Tor Lodge & Applecross Trust, Chair of the World Foundry Organisation Working Group on Vocational Training & Professional Development, and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Founders.
Since there were no foundry specific programmes available following the demise of various college-based courses, a particular focus of her work over the past 10 years has been to support a range of professional development programmes and short courses for the UK industry. This contributed to the development of an EAL Level 3 Diploma in Casting and a new trailblazing apprentice standard for the casting and foundry industry, as well as the establishment, in 2018, of the National Foundry Training Centre - which was the first practical training facility for the industry in the UK for at least two decades. Pam was awarded an ICME Meritorious Services Medal in 2014 and the Oliver Stubbs Medal in 2019.
Meet the 2020 Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award Winner
Dr Ayotunde Coker, FIOD (MSc Engineering and Management of Manufacturing Systems 1989)
Managing Director and CEO, Rack Centre
Dr Ayotunde Coker has over 30 years’ international experience across Europe, the USA, Asia and Africa. Born in Nigeria, he attended school in Lagos before continuing his undergraduate and postgraduate education at universities in the UK.
He had a distinguished career spanning 28 years in the UK with roles including Senior Analyst at Ford of Europe, Senior Management Consultant at Cap Gemini UK, CEO at eMCSaatchi UK, Director at Egg Bank UK, Global Applications Director at BP, Chief Technology Officer at the UK Criminal Justice and Group IT Director at the UK Ministry of Justice. In 2007, he was appointed Chair of the UK Government Enterprise Architecture Board.
Dr Coker returned to Nigeria in 2009 as Group CIO of Access Bank before becoming MD and CEO of Emerging Markets Payments Group. He is now Managing Director and CEO at Rack Centre, which he has built to be a household name and a leading data centre brand in Africa – achieving global recognition and numerous international awards. He is also Secretary General of the Africa Data Association.
During his time at Cranfield, Ayotunde won the Institute of Production Engineers Award. He was also named IT Man of the Year in 2015 and IT Personality of the Year in Nigeria in 2019. He is a Fellow at the Institute of Directors (UK) and the British Computer Society, and an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. He also holds a PhD (Honoris Causa) by ESCAE University, Republic of Benin. His hobbies include golf and playing the pipe organ.
Meet the 2019 Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award Winner
Philip Wingrove (MSc Logistics and Transportation 1996, Fellowship in Manufacturing 2003)
Site Director, 'South Yard' Princess Yachts
Philip is a highly-experienced global operations director with international expertise across supply chain, manufacturing and aftermarket support in a range of regulated industries.
Previously he was Vice President of Operations at Orolia and took voluntary redundancy after restructuring the UK Business. He has now nearly completed renovating a house and is starting to provide consulting and interim management services.
At Orolia, Philip was responsible for forming an integrated operations team across eight sites and five countries. This also included three M and A integrations.
At Boeing Defence UK, he was instrumental in reducing aircraft turnaround time by 81% and at the UK MoD Philip increased Chinook maintenance output by 45% in one year. He also worked for Smiths Medical and took the Tijuana Mexico plant from worst to best performer in the division in one year.
Philip is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Fellow of the Association of Manufacturing Managers, and a Chartered Member of the Institute of Logistics and Transport.
Previous recipients of the Distinguished Manufacturing and Materials Alumni Award
Mahendra Patel (MSc Industrial Engineering and Administration 1973)
Dr Gareth Williams (Fellowship in Manufacturing Management 1988)
Dr Simon Bourne is a trailblazer in the clean energy sector whose leadership and technical expertise have revolutionised the field of green hydrogen production.
Steve Phillips is a people-first leader who inspires and builds sustainable teams that deliver outstanding results.
Dr Peter Thompson FREng FInstP FRSC is CEO of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s National Metrology Institute (NMI), which is widely regarded as one of the leading NMIs in the world.
Pam Murrell is the Chief Executive of the Cast Metals Federation (CMF), the Trade Association for the UK casting industry. The CMF represents and supports its members (UK foundries and suppliers to the industry) and is the UK member of the European Foundry Association (CAEF).