Ian Risk - Aegis Professor of Digital Engineering

Ian Risk was appointed the Aegis Professor of Digital Engineering in May 2026, based in the School of Electrical, Electronic, and Mechanical Engineering in the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

In 1985 Ian graduated from the University of Bristol in Mechanical Engineering and has now returned to his alma mater, bringing a wealth of industrial and research experience to help support the development of a new generation of engineers.

He has spent over 40 years in the South-West aerospace sector, developing and managing research programmes directed at transforming the performance of this critical regional industry. At Airbus he was Head of Corporate Research in the UK, responsible for the creation of a new research facility, eventually employing more than 100 engineers and students. This grew the Airbus Corporate Research activity in the UK significantly, realising a massive investment in the UK Science Base. Not only were facilities created within Airbus Group, but via partnerships with the Universities of Exeter, Cardiff and Surrey, academic centres were also realised. Following a move to CFMS in 2018, he initiated and implemented a corporate re-orientation from a provider of infrastructure as a service, to a successful and sustainable digital engineering consultancy, tripling the size of the workforce in the process. In 2022, he founded Sandall Consulting to provide technical services to industry, academia and the research community in the fields of technology strategy planning, project ideation, negotiation, management and delivery of initiatives, partnerships and projects.

Development of STEM related skills and the infrastructure to support this, has been at the core of many activities throughout his career. Ian was an active lobbyist for the formation of the Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation Programme, a collaboration involving University of Bristol to develop digital capabilities and skills in the West of England. During his time in industry, he encouraged strong partnerships with Bristol and Bath Universities, securing a joint Research Fellowship and series of student positions to develop new talent. At Airbus, he promoted regional research activity in Wales and the Southwest, together with Bristol, Bath, DeMontfort, Cardiff and Exeter Universities, eventually sponsoring >30 PhD across UK academia. He also initiated the relationship with the Welsh Government to create a Research Foundation in Wales (Endeavr) on behalf of Airbus Group.

Ian is the current Chair of the Advisory Board for the Digital Design Network Plus, a UKRI TERC programme, promoting the transition to virtual engineering. He is NED and Board Advisor at data science start-ups, Intellium AI and Riskoa respectively, helping to guide their business strategy development and product evolution.