Professor Agius is currently Professor of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and Director of the Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Manchester Medical School.

His interests range from occupational to environmental ill health including respiratory and cardiovascular disease, to stress and back pain, making him an ideal candidate to help the council in its work advising ministers on the industrial injuries scheme.

The chair of the council, Dr Lesley Rushton, welcomed Professor Agius to the council, saying:

Raymond will bring a wealth of expertise to the council due to his extensive research and medical experience.

The aim of the meeting is to give members of the public, their representatives, and people with a professional interest in occupational diseases, the opportunity to learn and ask questions about the council’s work.

The meeting will take place in Leeds from 10am to 3:15pm at:

The meeting will include:

• an explanation of the council’s role in making recommendations to ministers about the industrial injuries scheme
• presentations and discussions about the council’s work in the past year
• an opportunity to contribute views and ideas on the council’s future work

The council welcomes any questions in advance of the meeting, where they will respond.

It might not be possible to accept all applications if the number of requests is higher than expected.

The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) provides advice to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Department for Communities in Northern Ireland on matters relating to the industrial injuries scheme. In particular, they give advice on which diseases, and the jobs that cause them, should be included in the scheme.

The council is formed of medical, scientific and legal experts, and representatives of employers and employed earners.

The council does not represent the Department for Work and Pensions and has no involvement in individual claims or decisions.

The project has demonstrated the capability to manage the energy demands of novel future capabilities such as the Dragonfire Laser Directed Energy Weapon (LDEW) currently being developed by Dstl & industry.

The Flywheel Energy Storage System (FESS) uses innovative high-speed & lightweight flywheels to provide high-power electrical pulses that these future systems require, reducing the impact of these systems to the rest of the ship, while avoiding the widely reported safety concern around battery-based systems.

Fundamental to the success of the project has been the collaborative testing of the FESS at both UK and US facilities. This was undertaken under the Advanced Electric Power and Propulsion Project Arrangement (AEP3), an arrangement between Dstl and DE&S in the UK, and NAVSEA’s Electric Ship Office and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in the USA. USA testing was also supported by US Coalition Warfare Program (CWP) funding.

Both nations utilised a Power Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) approach, where a ‘real’ FESS was integrated into a virtual ship power system emulating a RN ship operating in real-time. This approach offers a cost effective way to develop the hardware and de-risk its integration into a real ship, as well as to develop control and operating approaches.

After testing the FESS at the Florida State University’s (FSU) CAPs facility, the FESS was brought back to the UK and tested at the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) in Scotland. This has allowed the UK to develop its PHIL capabilities and allowed both nations to validate their facilities and models against each other.

This work forms part of a planned wider de-risking activity to enable the RN to successfully integrate future energy intensive loads.

Andrew Tate from Dstl, said:

This technology was originally developed by the Williams F1 team and was brought to us for potential use in Defence. We saw an attractive option to bolster defence capability through the provision of more robust and futureproof power systems for naval ships. The development of FESS and the close working we have achieved with DE&S, GKN, PNDC and our US partners has now provided a significant addition benefit in the development of real-time modelling capability and PHIL testing facilities at PNDC.

Kyle Jennett, the PNDC MOD programme Technical Lead said:

This project gave us a great opportunity to showcase the Power Hardware in the Loop (PHIL) test-bed that we’ve developed at PNDC. This test bed lets us connect real-world hardware, like the FESS, to simulated naval platforms to evaluate the impact on the ship during different operational scenarios. This testing can accelerate equipment development, de-risk integration challenges, and limit the need for costly shore demonstrators. In the case of the flywheel the 2-stage testing at PNDC, and coordinated product development with the supplier, has resulted in a significant improvement in the responsiveness and stability of the FESS system.

John Wilkinson, Director of Devices at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, will be stepping down from his position at the end of October 2019.

John has been with the Agency since February 2012. Since that time, he has made a significant contribution to the work of the organisation, both nationally and internationally. Together with his team, he has led on the safety of medical devices and the review of future medical devices regulation.

As such, and as one of his many achievements, John championed the development of the new EU Regulations for Medical Devices and In Vitro Diagnostic device legislation.

John has also chaired the Competent Authorities Medical Devices (CAMD) Executive, which seeks to enhance collaboration between European member states and the European Commission in developing and managing the EU medical devices regulatory system.

He has led his team of experts in investigating reports of problems involving medical devices. The results of which are used to advise the public and healthcare professionals on the safe use of devices, as well as work with manufacturers to improve device safety.

In announcing his retirement, John said:

These decisions are never easy to make, and with a very heavy heart, I have now decided to step down from my role at the Agency. I felt that now was the right time for me to move on to the next stage of my life.

These last 7 years have been a wonderful experience for myself and I am proud to have been associated with, and worked for, the regulator. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my Agency colleagues with whom I’ve worked – I leave knowing that their drive and commitment in protecting public health will continue unabated.

It’s for others to judge for themselves the work I’ve done, but my aim has always been to ensure high levels of patient safety whilst creating the right environment for medical devices to develop at a pace which continues to improve people’s lives and contributes to a sustainable development of our health services.”

Prior to joining the Agency, John was Chief Executive of Eucomed, the European medical technology industry association.

His earlier experience included the role of Director General of the Association of British Healthcare Industries and a number of roles in the medical devices industry, both in the UK and the USA, with Becton Dickinson and the BOC Group. These were followed by a period as Chief Executive of an early stage medical imaging company.

John holds a first degree in Zoology from the University of Aberdeen and an MBA from the University of Warwick.

He was awarded an OBE for services to the medical devices industry in the 2010 New Year’s honours list.

Do you have good manual skills and knowledge of workshop techniques? The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) is looking for an Engineering Support Technician who is practical, reliable and safety conscious.

Working within the Engineering Support Section, primarily you will work for the Engineering Support / Health and Safety Manager to provide engineering support, both at the AAIB facilities and at accident sites. You will also be responsible for the general up-keep of the AAIB technical facilities, deployment kit and health and safety equipment including procurement.

You can read the full role profile and apply for this position on the Civil Service Jobs site. The deadline for applications is 21 May.