Network Rail Wales and Borders route director Nick Millington has been elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Nick was one of 71 leading figures in the field of engineering and technology named as new Fellows at the Academy’s AGM yesterday (17 September).
He has clocked up more than 34 years of experience in the rail industry after joining the British Rail (Mechanical and Electrical) Engineering Apprenticeship scheme two weeks after his 16th birthday in 1990.
Nick’s career spans railway maintenance, asset management, project delivery and operations. He led the Network Rail Safety Task Force and is committed to modernising railway maintenance, operations and harnessing intelligent infrastructure to keep track workers safe.
He is now a chartered civil engineer, a chartered project manager and a chartered permanent way engineer; he is a Fellow of both the Institution of Civil Engineers and the Permanent Way Institution (PWI) and a past president of the PWI. He was awarded the MBE in 2023 for services to the railway, charity and the NHS.
Nick said: “I’m delighted to have been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. It’s an honour that reflects the fact that the railway industry is a fantastic place to grow a solid career with great training.
“Having ‘earned and learned’ by starting out as a young apprentice, it’s important to me that I now have the opportunity to support the Academy’s work by mentoring and developing the next generation of railway professionals. I’m especially focused on mentoring colleagues from under-represented parts of our society, so that people from as many walks of life as possible have the chance to forge a career in engineering.”
Dr John Lazar CBE FREng, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, commented: “Our new Fellows represent some of the most talented people in the world of engineering and are taken from the ranks of those who are aiming to address some of our most critical problems.
“We are proud to say that many of our newly elected Fellows have come from under-represented groups in engineering and related sectors and we hope this helps to tackle some of the issues around a lack of diversity within the profession. There is ample evidence that a wider pool of ideas and experiences helps to improve decision-making and develop novel solutions to global challenges.”
The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a special ceremony in London on 27 November, when each Fellow will sign the roll book.
The group consists of 60 Fellows, six International Fellows and five Honorary Fellows, each of whom has made exceptional contributions to their own sector, pioneering new innovations, leading progress in business or academia, providing high- level advice to government, or promoting wider understanding of engineering and technology.
Image credit: Network Rail
