Election of Policy and International Relations Officer

The Academy offers its congratulations to Professor Norton as he commences his new role of Policy and International Officer. Professor Norton has previously been a member of the Policy Oversight Group and will now chair the committee as well as overseeing the activities of the Policy and International Relations Unit.

Professor Norton holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics from University of Nottingham and MSc and PhD degrees, in Engineering Experimentation and Applied Energy respectively, from Cranfield University and a DSc from the University of Nottingham. In addition to being a member of the Royal Irish Academy, he is a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering, the Energy Institute and Engineers Ireland. He is a Chartered Engineer (both in the UK and Ireland) and Fellow, Higher Education Academy. Among his awards are the Napier Shaw Medal of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), the Roscoe Award of the Energy Institute and the Honorary Fellowship of the CIBSE, the highest honour for his professional discipline. Previously he was Professor of Built Environmental Engineering and Dean of Engineering and Built Environment at University of Ulster (UU).  He is an Honorary Professor Harbin Institute of Technology, University of Ulster, University of Houston and Bejing Wuzi University.

Professor Norton's work for the Academy also includes the busy role of representing RIA on the EASAC Energy Steering Panel.

The Academy also offers its thanks and gratitude to Peter McHugh, MRIA, who now stands down from an extremely successful term as the Policy and International Relations Officer.