Sir James Rufus McDonald is a British engineer and educator, serving as principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Strathclyde since 2009.

[5] On 15 February 2019, the Royal Academy of Engineering announced that its Trustee Board had nominated McDonald as its presidential candidate for election by Fellows at the September 2019 AGM.

[citation needed] McDonald delivered an TEDx talk at the 2021 Annual Ideas Conference organised by TEDxUniversity of Strathclyde under the theme "Resilience Reignited".

During his TED talk, McDonald discussed a systems engineering approach to achieving net zero by 2050 which includes the use of steam reforming.

"Net Zero" means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - achieving this means reducing emissions as much as possible as well as balancing out those that remain by an equivalent amount[7] He highlighted the factors in energy which need to be taken in consideration if we are to achieve a decarbonised future - factors such as affordability, reliability, economic opportunity and public engagement.