Renishaw Metrology Expert Elected to UK Royal Academy of Engineering

Professor Geoff McFarland, the group engineering director at Renishaw plc, has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. McFarland was elected alongside 50 of the UK’s best engineering researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and business and industry leaders. He joins colleagues Sir David McMurtry, the company’s chairman and chief executive, and Sir David Grant, a senior independent director, as Fellows of the Academy.

The Royal Academy of Engineering advances and promotes excellence in engineering by bringing together the UK’s leading engineers across all engineering sectors. Professor McFarland is a specialist in dimensional metrology and its applications in manufacturing and medicine. He is named as an inventor on more than 50 patents and has led the development of multiple innovative measurement products for the aerospace and automotive sectors while at Renishaw.

McFarland studied computer-aided mechanical engineering at Heriot-Watt University, then worked for several years as a research associate in the medical device and electronic manufacturing sectors. He joined Renishaw’s Edinburgh research facility in 1994 and moved to the company’s headquarters to become director and general manager of the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) product line in 1999. In July 2002, he was appointed to the company’s board of directors, where he is responsible for group engineering, group intellectual property and the additive manufacturing products line.

McFarland has maintained a strong involvement with academia and is actively linked with multiple universities and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. He is a visiting professor at the University of Bath and an honorary professor at Heriot-Watt University. “It is an honor to be elected as a Fellow alongside some of the finest minds in the industry,” said McFarland. “To solve the challenges that will face the economy, environment and medical sector, multidisciplinary engineering teams must come together to develop innovative products and manufacturing solutions, a process I have been fortunate to be a part of during my time at Renishaw.”

“I’m so proud to welcome our new Fellows, who represent the very best of UK engineering,” said Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, the president of the Royal Academy of Engineering. “Our new Fellows demonstrate how engineering is tackling some of the biggest challenges facing the world. I look forward to working with them as we continue to make the UK a leading nation for engineering innovation and businesses.” Once selected, individuals are given the title Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the postnominal FREng.

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