Professor Keith Ridgway was the co-founder and Executive Dean of the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). In 2016 Professor Ridgway became the Executive Chair of the Advanced Forming Research Centre at the University of Strathclyde. In 2017 the University of Strathclyde was awarded £68m by the Scottish Government to establish the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) as a catalyst for an Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District adjacent to Glasgow Airport.

Professor Ridgway was awarded an OBE for services to UK manufacturing industry in June 2005 and a CBE for services to UK manufacturing industry in January 2012. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers the City of Guilds London Institute and the Royal Institute of Naval Architects. In 2012 he was awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Aeronautical Society.