Peter Flinn is the 136th President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is a chartered engineer who studied mechanical sciences at the University of Cambridge. He also holds an MBA and attended the international senior management programme at Harvard Business School. He has worked mainly in manufacturing industry in the aircraft, rail, commercial vehicle and process industries. He started his career with the military aircraft division of what is now BAE Systems on projects such as the Anglo-French Jaguar. He then moved to Leyland DAF Limited, his last position being Quality Director for the UK, having previously held senior positions in product development, research and manufacturing in Leyland and in Scotland. His most recent industrial role was as MD of Vectra Group Limited, an engineering consultancy specialising in safety work for hazardous industries. Since 2007, he has worked mainly at the interface between industry, government and academia. In 2014, he completed the start-up of the Aerospace Technology Institute. Prior to that, he helped InnovateUK establish the Catapult programme. During 2009 and 2010, he was the Project Director for the £40.55m Manufacturing Technology Centre built near Coventry. All three organisations are flourishing. He is an active member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, has been chairman of its Manufacturing Industries Division and the main point of contact for TMMX. He was also chairman of the Intelligent Automation Centre at Loughborough University between 2012 and 2017.