Sir Diarmuid Downs CBE, KSG,[1], FRS (born 1922) is a British automotive engineer.
He was born in 1922 in London where his father ran a small engineering business manufacturing equipment for the oil industry. Downs was educated at Gunnersbury Catholic Grammar School and the Regent Street Polytechnic, London.[2] He then studied at Northampton Engineering College, London, where he graduated with First Class honours in 1942. He won a postgraduate bursary for further research and study, which he took up with Ricardo and Co.
For his first 15 years with Ricardo & Co., first as student, then as a member of staff, and from 1947 as Head of the Petrol Engine Department, Downs pursued a study of fundamental study of abnormal combustion phenomena in the petrol engine, resulting in a clearer understanding of the problems of knock and pre-ignition.
Downs was made a Director of Ricardo in 1957. He was made Managing Director ten years later, remaining in this position until 1984. He was Chairman of the company from 1976 to 1987.[3]
Downs served as President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1978 and as President of FISITA, the International Federation of Automotive Engineering Societies, from 1978 to 1980.[4] He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1985. [5]
| Professional and academic associations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hugh Ford |
President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers 1978 |
Succeeded by James Gordon Dawson |