Renishaw’s Chairman honoured with international engineering award

The presentation of the Nicolau Award, which honours CIRP founder General Pierre Nicolau, was made by its President, Professor Gerry Byrne, who said, “Sir David McMurtry has made very many significant contributions to the field of metrology, a subject that was of direct and great interest to General Nicolau. He is named as an inventor or co-inventor on some 47 Rolls Royce patents and on over 150 Renishaw inventions.”

Professor Byrne continued, “Sir David is a highly acclaimed engineer, designer and innovator at the helm of one of the UK’s leading companies, and is an inspirational role model for young engineers.” This international honour was inaugurated in 2001 and past distinguished winners include Professor Joachim Milberg, former Chairman of BMW, Dr Klaus Wucherer, former board member of Siemens AG, Dr Masahiko Mori, President of Mori-Seiki and Dr Yoshiharu Inaba, CEO of Fanuc.

Sir David has received significant global recognition for his career achievements including honorary doctorates from leading UK Universities, fellowships from the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the US Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), and the ND Marketing Award which recognises significant contributions to Japanese manufacturing production and automation.

In 1989 he became a Royal Designer for Industry, in 1994 was made a CBE “for services to Science and Technology”, and in 2001 was appointed a Knight Bachelor “for services to Design and Innovation.”

The International Academy for Production Engineering takes its abbreviated name from the French acronym of College International pour la Recherche en Productique (CIRP) and includes around 550 members from 41 countries. It was founded in 1951 with the aim to address scientifically, through international co-operation, issues related to modern production science and technology.