About Promethean Engineering
Promethean Engineering exists to help organisations turn complex systems and data into clear, confident decisions.
In Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity. Fire symbolised knowledge, capability, and progress.
At Promethean, we see our role in the same way: to pass practical knowledge to others, so they can build, operate, and improve systems with confidence. We apply data analytical techniques to improve existing operations and also perform concert and front End Engineering (FEED) studies to support capital projects.
We believe our expertise should empower clients to make great engineering decisions prior to committing to unnecessary expansion projects.
Our Story
Promethean was founded after two decades working at the intersection of engineering design, project delivery, commissioning and operations in the water and infrastructure sectors.
Over time, a recurring pattern became clear:
Organisations collect vast amounts of data. This leads to being data rich, yet knowledge poor.
Critical decisions are still made with limited insight.
Engineering judgment and analytics are rarely integrated properly.
Existing operations are not optimised before looking at capital expansion.
Promethean was created to address that gap.
We focus on clear questions, rigorous analysis, and actionable outcomes by combining engineering understanding with modern data analytics to support better decisions across the asset lifecycle.
Our Vision
Our vision is to help process infrastructure intensive organisations:
Make better decisions with the data and equipment they already have.
Understand how their systems really behave.
Reduce risk, waste, and avoidable cost.
Build internal capability, not consultant dependency.
We are not trying to replace engineering judgment with algorithms, we are trying to strengthen it.
Independent by Design
Promethean Engineering is fully independent.
We are not tied to technology vendors, equipment suppliers, or delivery contractors. That independence allows us to give unbiased, client focused advice based on evidence, engineering principles, and professional accountability.
Our role is to sit alongside clients as a trusted technical partner asking the right questions, challenging assumptions, helping teams see their systems more clearly to empower the best decisions to be made.
Who We Work With
We work best with organisations that:
Own or operate complex assets.
Value technical integrity and clarity.
Operate in a wide variety of industries from water treatment, brewing, food production, mining, agriculture and dairy.
Want genuine insight into improving operational efficiency.
Are ready to use data to improve real world outcomes.
Want independent support to empower operational improvement and capital investment decisions.
The Founder
Promethean Engineering was founded by Matthew Clixby, a civil and environmental engineer with over 20 years of experience in the water industry delivering complex infrastructure projects across the UK, North America and South America.
Matthew has led the design and delivery of water and wastewater treatment plants, supported major capital programmes, and worked closely with utilities, operators, and project teams to solve real world technical and operational challenges.
His experience spans:
Process and treatment plant design.
Project and programme management.
Operational performance improvement.
Data driven analysis of complex systems.
Promethean reflects a simple belief shaped by that experience:
The best outcomes come when deep technical understanding is paired with clear, honest analysis.
