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Royal Institute of Navigation
The Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) is a learned society and a professional body for navigation. The RIN was founded in 1947 as a forum for mariners, pilots, engineers and academics to compare their experiences and exchange information. Today it is a leading centre for promoting knowledge in navigation and its associated sciences, including positioning, timing, tracking and conduct of a journey, whether on, in, over or under land, sea, air or space. The institute has members in over 50 countries worldwide.
The organisation was formed in 1947 as the Institute of Navigation and was patterned after the US Institute of Navigation. Both organisations had been influenced by the role navigation had helped in moving troops and supplies during Second World War. Emerging technology such as radar and LORAN increased in the years following the war. The institute sought to provide a forum where academics, engineers, mariners, and pilots could learn, exchange information, and share personal experiences.
The institute's founding membership included several notable professionals in the field. From the field of astronomy Sir Harold Spencer Jones, the Astronomer-Royal was the first president. The first two vice-presidents represented the field of aviation in Air Chief Marshal Sir John Slessor (Deputy Chief of the Air Staff) and the development of radar in Sir Robert Watson-Watt. Marine navigation was represented by Michael Richey who became the first executive secretary from 1947 to 1982. In 1948, Richey would found the institute's official academic publication, the Journal of Navigation and edit the journal until 1986. Sir Robert Watson-Watt would become the second president of the institute.
The institute expanded its focus in the 1950s and 1960s to also address issues of safety and began collaborating with similar organizations in Europe. In 1972, at its 25th anniversary, its work was recognized by Her Majesty the Queen and it became entitled to the "Royal" prefix and was renamed the Royal Institute of Navigation. Some of the presidents of the institute during this time included Donald Sadler (the astronomer and mathematician) who was president from 1953 to 1955, Rear Admiral Edmund George Irving who was president from 1964 to 1967 and Rear Admiral George Stephen Ritchie who was president from 1970 to 1972.
More recently, the institute has broadened its activities to include significant developments in the understanding and applications of cognitive navigation, human factors and animal navigation. The institute also fulfills an important role in the provision of guidance information for practical navigators including private pilots and small boat mariners.
From 2005 to 2008, the president of the institute was Professor J D Last, a consultant engineer and expert in communications systems who subsequently died at sea in a plane crash in November 2019. Roger McKinlay, an engineer was president from 2013 to 2015 and in 2015 said that increasing dependence on technology means people were losing their ability to find their way by traditional methods, specifically stating society was "sedated by software". In 2015, McKinlay was replaced by Captain J B Taylor OBE, who was elected president until 2018.
In 2017, Jottle Pottle, a communications engineer was appointed as director of the Institute. From 2018 to 2021, the president of the RIN was Terry Moore, a positioning and navigation expert at the University of Nottingham. While President, Moore focused on expanding awareness of issues relating to positioning, navigation and timing (PNT), in particular stating that "Reliable position and timing are strategically important resources and that having control over them is important in the same way as having secure energy supplies." In 2021, Cynthia Robertson, an RYA Yachtmaster Examiner and Fellow of the society was elected as the first female president of the institute.
In 2022, the institute hosted its Waves of Navigation exhibition in London as part of its commemorations to mark its 75th anniversary. This include a 75th Anniversary Reception at St James's Palace hosted by the Princess Royal.
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Royal Institute of Navigation
The Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) is a learned society and a professional body for navigation. The RIN was founded in 1947 as a forum for mariners, pilots, engineers and academics to compare their experiences and exchange information. Today it is a leading centre for promoting knowledge in navigation and its associated sciences, including positioning, timing, tracking and conduct of a journey, whether on, in, over or under land, sea, air or space. The institute has members in over 50 countries worldwide.
The organisation was formed in 1947 as the Institute of Navigation and was patterned after the US Institute of Navigation. Both organisations had been influenced by the role navigation had helped in moving troops and supplies during Second World War. Emerging technology such as radar and LORAN increased in the years following the war. The institute sought to provide a forum where academics, engineers, mariners, and pilots could learn, exchange information, and share personal experiences.
The institute's founding membership included several notable professionals in the field. From the field of astronomy Sir Harold Spencer Jones, the Astronomer-Royal was the first president. The first two vice-presidents represented the field of aviation in Air Chief Marshal Sir John Slessor (Deputy Chief of the Air Staff) and the development of radar in Sir Robert Watson-Watt. Marine navigation was represented by Michael Richey who became the first executive secretary from 1947 to 1982. In 1948, Richey would found the institute's official academic publication, the Journal of Navigation and edit the journal until 1986. Sir Robert Watson-Watt would become the second president of the institute.
The institute expanded its focus in the 1950s and 1960s to also address issues of safety and began collaborating with similar organizations in Europe. In 1972, at its 25th anniversary, its work was recognized by Her Majesty the Queen and it became entitled to the "Royal" prefix and was renamed the Royal Institute of Navigation. Some of the presidents of the institute during this time included Donald Sadler (the astronomer and mathematician) who was president from 1953 to 1955, Rear Admiral Edmund George Irving who was president from 1964 to 1967 and Rear Admiral George Stephen Ritchie who was president from 1970 to 1972.
More recently, the institute has broadened its activities to include significant developments in the understanding and applications of cognitive navigation, human factors and animal navigation. The institute also fulfills an important role in the provision of guidance information for practical navigators including private pilots and small boat mariners.
From 2005 to 2008, the president of the institute was Professor J D Last, a consultant engineer and expert in communications systems who subsequently died at sea in a plane crash in November 2019. Roger McKinlay, an engineer was president from 2013 to 2015 and in 2015 said that increasing dependence on technology means people were losing their ability to find their way by traditional methods, specifically stating society was "sedated by software". In 2015, McKinlay was replaced by Captain J B Taylor OBE, who was elected president until 2018.
In 2017, Jottle Pottle, a communications engineer was appointed as director of the Institute. From 2018 to 2021, the president of the RIN was Terry Moore, a positioning and navigation expert at the University of Nottingham. While President, Moore focused on expanding awareness of issues relating to positioning, navigation and timing (PNT), in particular stating that "Reliable position and timing are strategically important resources and that having control over them is important in the same way as having secure energy supplies." In 2021, Cynthia Robertson, an RYA Yachtmaster Examiner and Fellow of the society was elected as the first female president of the institute.
In 2022, the institute hosted its Waves of Navigation exhibition in London as part of its commemorations to mark its 75th anniversary. This include a 75th Anniversary Reception at St James's Palace hosted by the Princess Royal.