Professor Pat McKeown OBE FREng, who has died at the age of 95, was one of Cranfield University’s most celebrated staff members and alumni, and one of the pioneers of modern high precision engineering.
Professor McKeown first attended what was then the Cranfield College of Aeronautics as a student in the 1950s, after a student apprenticeship at the Bristol Aircraft Company.
After two years of postgraduate study, he was recruited by Société Genevoise d’Instruments de Physique (GSIP) in Geneva, later becoming Technical Director for GSIP’s UK subsidiary company in Newport Pagnell.
He returned to Cranfield in 1968 and helped establish the Cranfield Unit for Precision Engineering (CUPE), a Ministry of Technology sponsored industrial unit which went on to design, build and supply a wide range of high- and ultra-precision machine tools, including world's first CNC camshaft grinding machines, single point diamond turning machines and large telescope mirror grinding machines. In 2024, Pat was awarded a Lifetime Contribution Award from the University, recognising his incredible impact in the field of manufacturing.
Professor Dame Helen Atkinson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Sciences, said: “Professor McKeown was an exceptional colleague whose dedication, wisdom and generosity touched everyone who had the privilege of working with him.
“His contributions to the University and to his field were profound. Our thoughts are with his wife Mary, his three sons, and all of his family, friends and colleagues.”
Professor McKeown was elected a full member of CIRP in 1974 and was president in 1989-90. He was awarded the prestigious General Nicolau Award by CIRP in recognition of significant and distinguished scientific and industrial contributions within the field of production engineering.
In 1999 he received the Faraday Medal from the IET and the James Clayton Prize by the IMechE in 2007. In 1998, he became the founding President of the highly successful European Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology, Euspen. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1986, the highest honour for an engineer in the UK, and awarded the OBE in the New Years Honours in 1991.
In 1999, he received lifetime achievement awards from the precision engineering societies of America, Japan and Europe and was awarded the Georg-Schlesinger Prize from the State of Berlin for his work in production engineering and high precision engineering.
In 2001, Professor McKeown and his wife, Mary, created a generous fund for two prizes each year to recognise the best MSc research thesis at Cranfield in Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology. So far more than 40 master’s students have been awarded a McKeown Prize.
A more complete history of Professor McKeown's work is available on his website.