Professor Tom Melham elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Professor Tom Melham has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, in recognition of his contributions to engineering and technology. He is one of 75 new Fellows elected in 2026, the year of the Academy’s 50th anniversary.

Professor Melham's research develops mathematical and computational methods for making complex digital systems reliable and trustworthy. He specialises in automated reasoning and formal verification, particularly techniques for finding subtle design errors in computer chips before manufacture.

His work combines foundational research with sustained, hands-on collaboration across the semiconductor and electronic design automation industries. This has influenced industrial verification practice and led to new techniques being incorporated into commercially deployed tools used by chip designers worldwide. More recently, his group’s verification of secure processor designs has helped improve their quality and accelerate their adoption in commercial products.

I am delighted and honoured to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. I see this recognition as reflecting the work of the many colleagues, students and industrial collaborators with whom I have had the privilege to work—and our shared commitment to translating rigorous academic research into practical engineering impact. Professor Tom Melham

The new Fellows will be formally admitted to the Academy at a ceremony in London on 19 October.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is the UK’s national academy for engineering and technology. Its Fellowship brings together leading engineers and innovators from academia and industry, and the Academy provides independent expert advice to policymakers in the UK and internationally.