Following RAEng’s Annual General Meeting, the Academy has confirmed the appointment of several new members of its Trustee Board today, including Professor Jennings.  

Professor Jennings’ Vice-Presidency role will be focused on Fellowship Engagement, an instrumental leadership position that works closely alongside the President and other senior leaders to advance the Academy’s mission.  

The Board comprises 12 Trustees and is elected by the Fellowship of the Academy. As the Academy’s governing body, the Board is responsible for ensuring RAEng's strategy delivers public benefit from engineering and technology innovation.  

Professor Jennings is an internationally recognised figure in the areas of AI, autonomous systems, cyber-security and agent-based computing. His research focuses on developing AI systems for large-scale, open and dynamic environments. In particular, he is interested in how to endow individual autonomous agents with the ability to act and interact in flexible ways and with effective engineering systems that contain both humans and software agents.  

He was also the UK Government’s first Chief Scientific Advisor for National Security from 2010-2015 and has been involved in a number of start-ups including Aerogility, Darktrace, Rebellion Defence, and Reliance Cyber Systems. 

Speaking about the appointment, Professor Jennings commented: “I’m honoured to be named a Trustee and the Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. It’s a pivotal time for engineering and technology, so I’m looking forward to working with my fellow Trustees to create a meaningful impact and drive innovation in the sector.” 

The Royal Academy of Engineering is the UK’s national academy committed to promoting engineering excellence and advancing the profession. It plays a key role in supporting engineering education and influencing policy on matters linked to engineering and technology.