Royal Academy of Engineering welcomes new President

His appointment follows a vote by the Academy’s Fellows at its AGM on 17th September 2024. Lazar will serve as President for five years, a tenure that will include the Academy’s 50th anniversary celebrations in 2026.

Lazar is a distinguished software engineer and business leader with a passion for harnessing technology and entrepreneurship to drive meaningful change. He currently serves as Chair of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, which empowers young people through digital technology. Under his leadership, the Foundation’s commercial subsidiary successfully launched an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, securing a £500M endowment to support its global mission.

In addition to his work with Raspberry Pi, Lazar is a co-founder and General Partner at Enza Capital, an investment firm backing technology-driven solutions to major challenges across Africa. He is actively involved in the African tech sector, serving on the boards of several companies. His past leadership roles include Chair of What3words and CEO of Metaswitch Networks, where he played a pivotal role in the company’s growth before it was acquired by Microsoft in 2020. In recognition of his contributions to engineering, Lazar was awarded a CBE in 2016.

A Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering since 2011, Lazar has made significant contributions to the Academy’s initiatives. He chairs the Academy’s Enterprise Committee, which supports startups and scaleups through the Enterprise Hub, and has served on the Education and Skills Committee. He was also instrumental in shaping the UK’s school Computer Science curriculum.

One of Lazar’s notable achievements was leading the programme development for the 2019 Global Grand Challenges Summit. The summit brought together 900 engineers from around the world to address global challenges such as disruptive technologies, climate change, and resource management. Co-sponsored by the UK, US, and Chinese Academies of Engineering, the summit fostered collaboration between international thought leaders and the next generation of engineers to find solutions to these pressing issues.

Lazar’s commitment to innovation extends beyond the UK. For seven years, he has served as a judge and mentor for the Academy’s Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, supporting early-stage engineering companies across the continent. He has also been involved in various tech-focused non-profit initiatives in Africa, working to develop digital maker spaces and ‘digital blacksmiths’. As an angel investor, Lazar has backed more than 40 pre-seed and seed-stage startups in both the UK and Africa.

Lazar’s academic background includes an MSc in Computation and a DPhil in History from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He also holds a Computer Science degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

Currently based in London, Lazar frequently travels to Africa, reflecting his ongoing commitment to the continent’s tech ecosystem. Outside of his professional pursuits, Lazar is an avid hiker, runner, and Arsenal football fan. He enjoys tinkering with his 3D printer and Raspberry Pi, and supports his wife, a practising artist, in her creative endeavours.

Dr John Lazar shared his enthusiasm for his new role: “I am delighted and honoured to have been elected to serve the Royal Academy of Engineering as President as it approaches its first half-century. Engineers are drivers of innovation and economic opportunity, developing and delivering new products, services and enterprises that help to solve pressing problems, and generate jobs and value for society. Our great profession has much to offer to humanity, both in the UK and around the world, and I look forward to building on the excellent work of my predecessors in increasing our impact and expounding the vital role of engineering in addressing global challenges.”