The Institute of Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) is awarding Honorary Fellowships to four men with distinguished careers at the 105th Annual Dinner taking place on 14 March. 

"We are delighted to be awarding Honorary Fellowships to Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd; Professor Costas Th. Grammenos OBE, DSc the Pro-Vice Chancellor of City University who is also Deputy Dean (Head of Undergraduate School) of its Cass Business School and a Trustee of the IMarEST Memorial Fund; David Long CEng CMarEng FIMarEST, Retired Institute Director Special Projects, and Derek Lutyens, Hon Treasurer the Memorial Fund," explains IMarEST's Chief Executive, Keith Read, CBE.

"They all richly deserve the Award and, in accepting our invitation to become Honorary Fellows, join a highly distinguished group. The Institute's other Hon. Fellows are HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (1949); HRH The Princess Royal (2007);  Rt. Hon The Lord Sterling of Plaistow CBE (1992), Dr Jim Cowley CBE FREng (1992), Brian Hildrew CBE FREng (1992), Jolyon E Sloggett OBE CEng (1998), David R Cusdin CEng (2002), Vice Admiral Sir Robert Hill KBE FREng (2002), Lord Greenway (2004), Sir John Parker KB, FREng (2004), Alan H Taylor OMA CEng (2004) and Michael Grey MBE (2005).

"I am honoured by this appointment as a Fellow of the eminent fraternity of IMarEST, an organisation that has contributed much to the marine, maritime and offshore industry," said Mr Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman and CEO of Keppel Offshore & Marine. "We are at the crossroads of major growth and development. My passion after 40 years in this industry is to attract more people of talent and ability, people who have a Can Do! spirit, to exploit opportunities and achieve breakthroughs in the areas of engineering, technology and the business of offshore and marine."

"I have had an association with IMarEST for a long period of time," explains Professor Grammenos.  "Therefore, I have also had the opportunity to appreciate its substance and its very international presence and significance, and am very much aware of the privilege and honour of becoming an Honorary Fellow of the Institute."

Having joined the Institute as a 16-year old engineer cadet, David Long has the longest association with the Institute of any of the new Hon. Fellows: "It is a great honour, and somewhat humbling when I consider myself against existing holders of the Award," he says.  "To me it is a very special Award, which I shall treasure as recognition by my peers and betters of a lifetime's work and commitment to the marine sector and those engaged in it."

Like Professor Grammenos, Derek Lutyens has a long association with the Institute: "I was honoured and delighted with the signal award of Honorary Fellowship of the Institute," he says. "Although feeling that I scarcely deserve to join the exceptionally eminent and select group of those who share it."

About the new Honorary Fellows

Mr Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd is also the Senior Executive Director of Keppel Corporation Ltd, Chairman of Singapore Petroleum Company Ltd (SPC) and Singapore Refining Company Pte Ltd and SMRT Corporation Ltd (SMRT).

Under his stewardship, Keppel Offshore & Marine has grown to become a world leader in offshore rigs, ship repair and conversion, and specialised shipbuilding. The group currently has a global network of 20 yards and engineering centres in the Asia Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, the Caspian Sea, Middle East and the North Sea regions. 

The listed companies that he chairs such as SPC and SMRT have distinguished themselves as organisations with strong corporate governance and robust growth.

Mr Choo was awarded the Colombo Plan Scholarship to study Naval Architecture in the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.   He graduated with a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) in 1970 and a Master of Science degree in Naval Architecture in 1971.  He attended the Programme for Management Development in Harvard Business School in 1982 and is a Member of Wharton Society of Fellows.

Mr Choo sits on the Board of Directors of Keppel Land Ltd, k1 Ventures Ltd and Keppel Energy Pte Ltd and is a Board Member of Singapore Maritime Foundation and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.

He is Chairman of Det Norske Veritas South East Asia Committee and Council Member of the American Bureau of Shipping and member of the American Bureau of Shipping's Southeast Asia Regional Committee and Special Committee on Mobile Offshore Drilling Units. He is also Chairman of the Nanyang Business School's International Advisory Board.

Mr Choo was conferred the Public Service Star Award (BBM) in August 2004 and NTUC Medal of Commendation (Gold) Award in May 2007.  He is Singapore's Non-Resident Ambassador to Brazil.

Professor Costas Th. Grammenos OBE, DSc joined City University in London in 1982 and has been Pro-Vice Chancellor since 1997 and Deputy Dean (Head of Undergraduate School) of its Cass Business School since 2003.

In 2006 he became Chairman of the Governing Body of the newly established International Hellenic University, Thessaloniki, Greece.

He founded the Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance of City University in 1983 (now renamed The Costas Grammenos Centre for Shipping, Trade and Finance) and has been its Head since that date. The Centre undertakes substantial research in addition to teaching three highly successful Masters' programmes.

He has written many studies, articles and books;  and created - through his published research - 'Shipping Finance' as a new academic discipline for which he was awarded the rare and highest academic accolade, the DSc in 1999. He is an executive member of company boards and Fellow of various institutions. He was made OBE in 1994, for his work in international shipping and finance and in 1998 was Seatrade Personality of the Year.

David Long has been a member of the Institute since he was a 16 year old engineer cadet employed by the BISNCo Ltd, and has been directly engaged in the management, direction and development of the Institute since 1983 when he became a Fellow of the Institute and the Institute's Education and Training Officer.

In 1986 he became Technical Secretary and Deputy to the Secretary with responsibility for the Institute's learned society activity, publishing, professional affairs, members services and provided secretarial support to a number of committees. "During the next ten years we dragged the Institute from the quill pen (almost) to electronic publishing and the electronic office - a challenging time for us all especially me! During that period I also established and managed a Government funded Industry Standing Conference for the development of occupational standards for the engineering services sector (transport, armed services, major utilities and telecommunications)."

In 1996 he became Director - Professional Affairs looking after members' services, professional affairs, policy matters relating to membership, professional standards and accreditation, membership recruitment and marketing and dealings with external bodies.  He takes up the tale: "The most significant development in which I was engaged during that time was the breaking of the link between membership and registration and the development of the current membership structure which inter alia provided for seagoing Chief Engineers to become Members for the first time since 1973. We also broadened the scope of our membership structure to embrace marine scientists and marine technologists and I authored the membership standards and procedures documents covering all categories and disciplines of member and which are still in use today.

"The last few years of my time as an employee involved special projects and in particular the further development of the membership and branch and divisions structures to more effectively meet the needs and aspirations of members and potential members and at the same time enhance and sustain a growth of the Institute's membership - a challenging period requiring the members to recognise the need for change in the long term interest of the Institute."

He adds: "Throughout my time at the Institute I have been heavily engaged with the Engineering Council. I have represented the Institute on most of the EC(UK)'s committees since its inception in 1983, through change in 2002, when it was split into the EC(UK) and the ETB. I am currently an EC(UK) Board member and Chair the Board's International Advisory Panel which is responsible for serving the interests of UK registrants who may wish to migrate or work overseas. My international work on the recognition of  educational and competence based qualifications across international boundaries led last year to my election to the Chair of the International Engineering Alliance Governing Group, a consortium of some 27 countries variously engaged in six international agreements that provide for cross border recognition of academic and competence based qualifications."

Derek Lutyens worked for 28 years as an investment manager in the City with the merchant bank Flemings. For the latter part of this time, and indeed for the majority of it, he specialised in managing the investments of charities, "including those of an important client for us, the Institute of Marine Engineers as it then was". On his retirement in 2000, he was asked to become a Trustee and was appointed Hon.Treasurer of the newly established Memorial Fund of what was to become the IMarEST, in which post which he still serves

Last Updated ( Friday, 07 March 2008 )