Exeter engineer elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering for 2013

The Royal Academy of Engineering has announced the election of 60 new Fellows who include some of the UK's most accomplished engineers from academia and business. Five new International Fellows and one Honorary Fellow have also been elected.

Dragan Savić is an engineering expert in the design of urban water and wastewater systems. Professor of Hydroinformatics at the University of Exeter, he is also Head of Engineering within the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences. He founded and is now co-director of the Centre for Water Systems which unusually won two consecutive Platform Grants from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council between 2001 and 2010.

Professor Savić’s research is concerned with the application of genetic algorithms to the optimisation of complex pipe networks for urban water supply and disposal. His work has applications in water developments worldwide, from the design and installation of infrastructure in newly-urbanising countries to the refurbishment of ageing assets in old towns and cities. His advanced modelling techniques save money: on one Canadian project, for example, his ideas are reckoned to have saved 35% of the capital cost – more than £30 million.

Sir John Parker GBE FREng, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “We warmly welcome our new Fellows to the Academy. With their expertise, knowledge and vision we will continue to strengthen our ambition of providing authoritative, impartial, and expert engineering advice to government and to develop the Academy’s growing impact and influence on a global stage.”