Professor Richard J Parker CBE FREng FRAeS FIMechE FInstP FCGI joined NPL as a Distinguished Visitor (Innovation) in 2017. In this role he supports NPL in identifying and creating greater impact through interaction with industry as well as NPL’s strategy development.
Ric is Chairman of the Singapore Low Carbon Energy Research Technical Committee, Chairman of the Singapore Aerospace Programme and President of the International Society for Air-Breathing Engines (ISABE). He was Chairman of the European Clean Sky programme (€4.4bn) until 2019.
Ric is a visiting Professor in Aerospace and Transport Technology at Loughborough University, in Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College and in Materials Engineering at Birmingham University, UK. He has seven Doctorates from various universities worldwide.
Ric joined Rolls-Royce in 1978, and held various posts, including Chief of Composites and Ceramics, Chief of Compressor Engineering, Managing Director – Compressor Systems and Director of Engineering & Technology, Civil Aerospace. From 2001 through to his retirement in 2016, Ric was Director of Research & Technology at Rolls-Royce Group. During this time he was responsible for the direction and co-ordination of Research & Technology programmes across all the Rolls-Royce businesses, worldwide.
Ric gained the CBE for Services to Engineering in 2013 and was named European CTO of the Year in 2014. In 2015, he was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Medal. His most recent achievements include being awarded the Council of European Aerospace Societies Gold Medal, (CEAS) in 2019; a Public Service Silver Medal by the Prime Minister's Office in Singapore in 2021 and the Singapore President’s Science and Technolgy Medal in 2024.
Ric is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the City and Guilds Institute. Ric is a Liveryman in the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
Ric says: "I started my working life as a CASE student at NPL in 1975; it is fitting I should be able to give something back now as a Distinguished Visitor. The role of NPL has never been more important as we must quantify and reduce our impact on the planet and its climate."