Dr. Atkins was Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Reading and Visiting Professor at Imperial College, London. He taught and researched in the general field of large deformation flow and fracture of all sorts of materials, including biomaterials. He was a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and of the Institute of Materials 3. He sat on various professional institution committees, editorial boards of journals and book series, and has been an advisor on NATO's Science for Peace Programme.