Peter Childs

Peter Childs FREng serves as Professorial Lead in Engineering Design at Imperial College London, where he was the founding Head of the Dyson School of Design Engineering. After earning his BSc and DPhil from the University of Sussex, he built an impressive career spanning academia and industry innovation. His research spans creativity tools, design processes, fluid dynamics, sustainable energy, and robotics, with over 200 refereed publications and several influential books including the Mechanical Design Engineering Handbook. Prior to Imperial, he directed the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre for Aero-Thermal Systems and InQbate at the University of Sussex. His impact includes securing over £80 million in research funding and developing over 2,000 designs ranging from turbines to aircraft concepts. At Imperial, he has led the Innovation Design Engineering program with the Royal College of Art while maintaining industry connections as Founder Director of QBot Ltd and BladeBUG Ltd. His current roles include Editor of the Journal of Power and Energy, Professor of Excellence at MD-H Berlin, and Advisory Professor at Guangdong University of Technology.