THE new president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers has pledged to attract more women to the profession.
Group Captain Mark Hunt, 42, is the youngest president in the institution’s 167-year history and the first RAF officer to hold the post.
He has succeeded Patrick Kniveton, head of engineering improvement at Rolls-Royce Marine Power. A survey for the Institution found 66 per cent of the public associate the term “engineer”
with men. Only 27 per cent associate it equally with men and women.
Gp Capt Hunt said said: “Women still make up a worryingly low proportion of the engineering workforce, at six per cent, and I am determined to help break down the stereotypes that are putting women off joining this profession.
“My challenge to every engineer is to ask themselves what they have done today to improve society and then to tell someone about it. We need to be proud of our engineering achievements.”
Gp Capt Hunt has been an RAF engineer officer for 20 years. He has a background in airworthiness and safety and has served four tours in Afghanistan.
He is now the Type Airworthiness Authority for the RAF’s intelligence gathering, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance fleets of Sentinel and Sentry aircraft.
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