text: Professor David Knowles FREng FIMMM (born 6 January 1967) is Professor of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Bristol and Chief Executive of the UK's Henry Royce Institute for advanced materials research. From 2016 to 2019, he was the co-director of the South West Nuclear Hub, and Atkins Fellow. His work focusses primarily on understanding and modelling the degradation mechanisms in metallic materials and their interrelation with the structural integrity of rotating and static equipment in the energy sector.