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Morgan Ests Colin Eddie has been elected a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering, joining the very highest achievers in UK engineering and technology.

Colin joins an elite group among the 44 new Fellows elected at the academys AGM earlier this month were designer and entrepreneur James Dyson arguably Britains best-known design engineer of modern times and Lord Richard Rogers, designer of the Lloyds building in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

Colin is responsible for the management of a specialist underground engineering department with a reputation for innovation.

Recently Colin has also been further honoured by the British Tunnelling Society being invited to give the Sir Harold Harding Memorial Lecture at the Institution of Civil Engineers in April next year.

The honour of being elected a Fellow was bestowed on Colin following his research work in his specialist field of tunnelling and in particular sprayed concrete tunnel linings. Since 1992 Colin has worked closely with Morgans sister company Beton-und Monierbau (Innsbruck) on a number of high profile sprayed concrete tunnelling projects including Heathrow Terminal 5 and the CTRL North Downs Tunnel.  The experience of working and learning from the highly respected exponents of the SCL method of tunnelling has helped Colin to become one of the leading SCL Tunnelling Engineers in the UK.

I am extremely honoured and I look forward to meeting and learning from eminent engineers and scientists from the wide spectrum of disciplines embodied by the Royal Academy of Engineering, he said. I am passionate about the use of good engineering and modern technology to improve safety and to promote the attractiveness of utilising underground space to potential project sponsors.  This honour provides a unique opportunity to gain knowledge from outside of my normal sphere of civil engineering.

Academy president Lord Broers said of the new fellows joining the Academy: 'I am delighted to welcome such a distinguished and accomplished group of people as Fellows this year.

'Engineering is the lifeblood of responsible development and gathering the very best people together from industry and academia will help us to give the best possible advice to government and, equally importantly, to inspire young people to see the importance of engineering in today's world and to consider it as a career'.

Colin joined Morgan Est in 1979 at the age of 16.  After studying Civil Engineering for four years on a day release basis whilst working as a site based tunnel engineer he was sponsored by Morgan Est to complete a civil engineering degree at Newcastle University. Even in the formative years of Colins career he decided to specialise in tunnelling, and concentrated on subjects relevant to underground engineering throughout his time at college and university.  In 1992 he became a chartered member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and a Fellow of the ICE in 2004.

I have been fortunate to have participated in the design and construction of many prestigious tunnelling projects from concept stage through to construction and handover, said Colin.

I am proud to have helped Morgan Est grow to become one of the leading tunnelling companies, employing more experienced tunnel engineers than any other company in the UK.  I am also proud to work as part of an organisation that encourages creativity and that is prepared to invest in vital innovation.

Colin lives in Rugby, Warwickshire with his wife and four children. He will be inaugurated into the Royal Academy of Engineering by HRH Prince Phillip at a ceremony in October.

The Academy honours the UKs most distinguished engineers. It aims to take advantage of the enormous wealth of engineering knowledge they possess and, through the interdisciplinary character of its membership, it provides a unique breadth of engineering experience to further the art and practice of engineering in all its forms.  Election to the Academy is by invitation only; up to 60 Fellows are elected each year from nominations made by existing Fellows. They are distinguished by the title  Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the designatory letters FREng. Honorary Fellows and Foreign members who have made exceptional contributions to engineering are also elected.
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