A career of research and advisory work critical in the development of multiple transformative projects
Professor Washington Yotto Ochieng is a widely recognised and awarded figure in positioning, navigation and timing systems (PNT) engineering, Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director of the Centre for Active Resilience and Security (CARS) at Imperial College London. He is also the President of the Royal Institute of Navigation.
Born in Kenya, Washington was inspired by the planes he saw flying overhead during his childhood and carried this through his academic career. After graduating from the University of Nairobi, Washington gained his master's degree in civil engineering and PhD in space geodesy for his research on Differential GPS and fiducial network design, from the University of Nottingham.
Washington has since undertaken vital research activities in the areas of critical infrastructure resilience, intelligent transport systems, and PNT systems, winning himself multiple prestigious awards – including the Harold Spencer Jones Gold Medal.
As a result of his participation in a variety of industry consortia, Washington’s influence spread across international governments, as he took on advisory roles in the Government Office for Science Blackett Review on Satellite-derived Time and Position; the European Court of Auditors and European Commission for the Single European Air Traffic Management Research (SESAR) programme, and the UK FCDO’s Science Advisory Group – among others.
Washington’s research and advisory work was critical in the development of multiple transformative projects including London’s congestion charge, and Europe’s space based PNT systems EGNOS and GALILEO.
In 2013, Washington was elected Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and in 2023 and 2024 respectively, he was honoured with Kenya’s EBS (Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear) and the UK’s CBE in recognition of his services to geospatial science, global positioning and navigation systems.
Professor Washington Ochieng CBE FREng
