Sainsbury Management Fellows’ Society (SMF) is pleased to announce that Ernie Poku has been named as its new president. Ernie succeeds Dan Mutadich, who stepped down after two years leading the organisation.

With a downturn in the UK economy, Ernie has laid out his vision for SMF over the next few years:
“Engineers at senior level in businesses can help to lead innovation, change and make companies more resilient in this increasingly changing global environment. During my tenure, I would like to establish better links with UK industry and leading corporate bodies to raise the profile of the outstanding work of SMFs.

“SMF has been developing excellence in engineers for over 20 years now and many of the fellows now have a wealth of experience behind them. They are a knowledgeable source of mentoring and I am keen to create more opportunities in this area. I would like to encourage more SMFs to take on non-executive directorships of both profit and non-profit organisations; leveraging their learning on the IoD’s Chartered Director course which many fellows have recently completed.”

With a successful career and a genuine passion for the engineering industry, Ernie is well qualified to lead SMF in these objectives.

After Ernie completed his BEng in Mechanical Engineering at Bristol, SMF sponsored his MBA at the Rotterdam School of Management in 1999. Since Ernie has gone on to carve out a very distinguished career within the engineering field. He is currently CEO and Founder of Crescent Diagnostics Ltd, a university spin-out developing a novel test for osteoporosis.

Commenting on Ernie’s appointment, former president Dan Mutadich says; “Ernie’s successes in the field of engineering and influence within SMF make him a major asset to the organisation. With the enthusiasm that he brings to the position I have every confidence that he will continue to grow SMF’s influence within the engineering industry and UK business.”