One of our engineers who has pioneered sustainable building design in recent years has scooped a top award for successfully taking his innovations into the marketplace.

Professor Doug King, a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Building Engineering Physics in the Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, has been awarded one of four 2011 Silver Medals by the Royal Academy of Engineering for his contribution to some of the most 'groundbreaking' buildings of the past two decades.

Doug worked for a number of leading consultancies before he formed his company, King Shaw Associates, in 2002. The company was set up to integrate a high level of research and teaching with a commercial design consultancy. While running the company, Doug continued to lecture here at Bath, tutoring architecture and civil engineering students on the sustainable aspects of their projects.

Doug is now a much sought after advisor to the industry, providing consultancy to institutions such as the British Library and the Royal Albert Hall. King Shaw Associates has grown into a million pound company, employing 15 staff and operating in the UK and overseas.

Nominating Doug for the award, Head of Department Professor Tim Ibell, said: "Doug entered the construction industry with a degree in physics and a determination to change the way things were done. Through the design and dissemination of numerous groundbreaking buildings he has demonstrated the potential for applying building science to the reduction of energy consumption.

"Doug’s contribution is more than simply designing good buildings. He has been able to use the knowledge gained from his pioneering work to develop teaching methods and materials that have the potential to revolutionise the understanding of sustainable design amongst construction industry graduates."

Professor Dame Julia Higgins FREng, who chairs the Academy’s Awards Panel, said: "We are delighted to award one of the four 2011 Silver Medals to Doug for his work in developing his sustainable working methods and successfully taking them to market.

"The engineering community needs entrepreneurs such as Doug to help inspire the next generation of world-leading engineers in the UK."

On learning of his selection for the award, Doug said “I am thrilled to receive this recognition for doing what I enjoy. I believe that creating a sustainable built environment is one of the greatest challenges facing society and that we will only solve it by widespread collaboration and sharing knowledge across disciplines.

"I have been privileged to learn from some of the finest engineers and am constantly challenged in my thinking by some of the most talented students. I hope to be able to continue to bring these influences to bear on my work designing buildings and systems for sustainable cities."

Doug will receive his silver medal at the Academy’s annual awards dinner in London’s Guildhall on 6 June.

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