WINNER | David MacDonald

SMF SPEECH INSPIRES DAVID TO TAKE SAME LEADERSHIP ROUTE

A speech made ten years ago by a Sainsbury Management Fellow inspired Chemical Engineer David MacDonald to follow in the same footsteps in an attempt to boost his own leadership credentials.

Inverness-born David was studying for his integrated master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh when he was invited to attend a talk at Aston University, where he was inspired by SMF Sam Cockerill – chief executive and founder of Libertine.

Now 31 and with eight years of work experience behind him, David is currently part-way through his MBA at Imperial College Business School and has been awarded the same Sainsbury Management Fellows’ (SMF) Scholarship that Sam was given to study at INSEAD almost 25 years ago.

David also praised the SMF network for help during his application, saying: “I reached out to the SMF network for support with my application and had an amazing response. Everyone was so helpful and generous with their time. Sometimes you reach out to people for help, send lots of emails out and get no help, but every single person got back to me – it helped put my application in a better position.

“I intend to contribute to this network in the same way and believe having a talented group of engineers working on our biggest problems will have a positive impact.

“I know that being part of SMF network will allow me to work with inspiring and motivated individuals who want to work on our largest challenges.”

In David’s eyes, those large challenges mainly relate to tackling the energy transition and hopes by the time he has retired the march towards net zero will have been relentless and impactful, with the UK leading the way.

He said: “I see the energy transition gathering unstoppable momentum by 2050. The renewable technology is advancing now, and if we’re going to be installing new things, renewables are the most efficient ways to go. But we’ll need to get the energy storage right.

“We need to make the most of it for when the sun’s not shining and the wind’s not blowing. We have an abundance of potential energy in this country, but we need to harness it.”

“There is huge potential for the UK energy sector to lead the way over the next 30 years and taking this opportunity is something I am passionate and excited about. Imperial has a track record of cutting-edge energy research and I want to support getting these emerging technologies to market at scale.”

Prior to starting his MBA, David has predominantly worked in the upstream oil and gas industry, working in onshore and offshore operations as a Process Engineer. His most recent experience was leading the maintenance shutdown on the Britannia Platform in the North Sea.

For the last 12 years he has also been a British Army Reserve Officer and is currently serving as a Captain in the Royal Signals, focussing on specialist communications. He believes the leadership experience gained in the Armed Forces will serve him well in industry – but not in the way that many people might think.

Find out more about the Sainsbury Management Fellows’ Scholarship