Head of university turbocharger research institute to chair IMechE standards committee

The University of Huddersfield’s Professor John Allport has taken over as chair of the committee that oversees academic accreditation by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE).

Mr Allport heads the University's Turbocharger Research Institute. It was in 2003, while he was still working in industry, for multinational firm Cummins, that Mr Allport joined the panel of IMechE industrialists and academics who carry out detailed inspections at universities which seek IMechE accreditation for mechanical engineering courses.

He was appointed a member – first as an industrialist and then later as an academic – of the Institute's Academic Standards Committee. Now, Mr Allport has been elected as Chairperson.

It is a role that has an international dimension. However, Mr Allport’s long-standing involvement with the IMechE accreditation process has already taken him overseas on many occasions. For example, he has held talks on behalf of the Institution with the education ministry in China as well as representing the Institution in Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and the West Indies, where he has carried out accreditation of engineering courses.

In the UK, some 70 universities (including Huddersfield) carry the IMechE accreditation for engineering courses. Achieving this requires a two-day inspection and furnishing of a large amount of documentary evidence. Accreditation lasts for five years. Then a fresh inspection has to be carried out, meaning the award is not guaranteed.

“It is recognised as the gold standard for course quality around the world,” Mr Allport commented.

The Institute says global interest in IMechE accreditation continues to grow, in nations that include India and China.

IMechE www.imeche.org

Turbocharger Research Institute www.hud.ac.uk/research/researchcentres/tri