He succeeds Dame Judith Hackitt as the Chair of Enginuity and EAL, the specialist awarding and assessment organisation for the engineering and manufacturing sector.
Sir Jim, current President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, is one of Scotland’s most accomplished engineers, and co-chairs the Scottish Government’s Energy Advisory Board with the First Minister.
He is Chair of the Independent Glasgow Economic Leadership Board and holds senior business appointments with Scottish Power, the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, Supernode and recently held the role of Senior Independent Director at both the Weir Group and the UK Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult.
In Queen Elizabeth II’s Jubilee Birthday Honours List in June 2012, Sir Jim was awarded a knighthood for services to education, engineering and the economy. He was appointed a Knight Grand Cross in the 2024 New Year Honours list for services to engineering, to education and to energy.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institute of Physics, and the Energy Institute. He is an international Member of the US National Academy of Engineering and International Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He chairs two of the pan-Scotland research pools in energy and engineering and also chaired the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Committee for three years.
Ann Watson, Chief Executive of the Enginuity Group, comments: “We are delighted that we have been able to attract one of the UK’s most accomplished engineers to follow in Dame Judith’s footsteps as the Chair of both Enginuity and EAL."
Sir Jim McDonald, new Chair of Enginuity, says: “I am delighted to follow Dame Judith as Chair of the Enginuity Board. It has been one of my career-long ambitions for as many young people as possible to pursue a career in engineering. Engineers can change the world and a career in engineering offers the exciting opportunity to benefit society, the economy and sustainability.
“I’ve often advocated for a systems engineering approach to net zero, but we need to also apply the same thinking to our skills system, to ensure UK engineering and manufacturing skills employers have the people and capabilities required to seize the opportunities created by decarbonisation, electrification, digitisation and advanced manufacturing.
“I look forward to working with my fellow Board members, Ann and the rest of the fantastic team at Enginuity to help find cross-industry approaches to solve the common skills challenges faced by UK manufacturing and engineering.”
