RAE Annual review - Cover - Royal Academy of Engineering

British cyclists test the new Velodrome in
November 2011. The construction of Olympic
stadiums was described by Sir John Armitt in his
Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust lecture
Queen Elizabeth Prize for
Engineering
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for
Engineering was launched in November
2011 at a high-profile reception
attended by the leaders of all three
political parties. The Prime Minister, the
Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader
of the Opposition all spoke at the event
in support of the prize and its critical
importance in promoting engineering
in the UK and internationally.
The launch of the prize was widely
covered across UK print and broadcast
media, along with a number of overseas
media mentions.
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for
Engineering is an international biennial
£1 million prize for an individual (or a
team of up to three people) responsible
for a groundbreaking innovation in
engineering that has been of global
benefit to humanity. The prize will
in their fields. This year’s winner was
Dr Simon Cotton, an RAEng/EPSRC
Research Fellow at Queen’s University
Belfast, for his work on pioneering
networks to carry mobile phone signals
between human bodies.
also provide a high-profile, global
communications platform to advance
and promote engineering in the UK
and around the world, with a particular
focus on engaging the public and
inspiring young people to pursue a
career in engineering.
The Academy also celebrates established
engineers for their valuable contributions
to engineering and society. This year, Dr
Andrew Viterbi, mobile communications
pioneer, inventor of the Viterbi Algorithm
which unscrambles encoded data, and
co-founder of Qualcomm, received the
International Medal.
Learning from industry experts was a
key theme in the events programme
that provided a platform for engineers
to share their work with the wider
world. In the Hinton lecture, BP Chief
Executive Bob Dudley discussed the
history of oil exploration and the
company’s role in innovatory offshore
drilling. The Lloyd’s Register Educational
Trust lecture was given by Chairman
of the Olympic Delivery Authority, Sir
John Armitt CBE FREng, who revealed
the challenges behind the UK’s most
high-profile construction project. From
decontamination and sustainability to
The judging panel is chaired by Lord
Alec Broers FREng FRS and comprises
leading figures from the international
engineering community. The first prize
will be presented by HM The Queen in
spring 2013.
Robotic space exploration
In March 2012, Dr Charles Elachi, Director of NASA’s Jet
Propulsion Laboratory, gave a personal insight into the
challenges of landing the Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory
infrastructure requirements and legacy,
he outlined the issues behind the
successful creation of the London 2012
Olympic park.
The regional lecture was given by
Professor Anne Neville FREng FRSE,
Professor of Tribology and Surface
Engineering at the University of Leeds.
Professor Neville shared insights into
her complex nanoscale research, the
applications of which span many areas,
from extending the lifespan of hip joints
to managing the corrosion of pipelines
carrying oil.
The Academy also reaches out to a much
broader audience through its quarterly
magazine Ingenia, which carries articles
that cover the spectrum of engineering
and profiles of engineers across all
disciplines. This year it published articles
on the use of tissue engineering to treat
osteoarthritis, the introduction of facial
recognition systems to airports, nuclear
decommissioning in the UK and the
challenges involved in repainting the
Forth Bridge. The printed version of the
magazine has a readership of 33,000 with
another 30,000 people accessing the
online version each month.
Engaging across society
With new funding from the Department
for Business, Innovation and Skills,
the Academy took up the charge to
lead the engineering profession in
encouraging a more diverse group of
people to choose engineering careers.
The Academy programme builds on
its own internal diversity campaign
which has resulted in a pronounced
increase in the diversity of new Fellows
elected, and is reflected across all facets
of its public-facing work. Professor
Dame Wendy Hall FREng FRS leads this
programme on behalf of the Academy’s
Council. In March 2012, the Academy
gained external recognition for its work
on gender equality through the UKRC
SET Fair Standard assessment process.
Feedback from the assessment will be
used to drive progress and broaden
the focus on diversity to include other
rover on Mars at the Academy’s ERA Foundation International
Lecture entitled Engineering and Technological Challenges in
Robotic Space and Earth Exploration.
Accompanied by a dramatic video, he described the landing
process as “six minutes of terror” and explained how the
touchdown of Curiosity on Mars will be significantly different
from that of its predecessors. The landing will involve a
‘sky crane’ carrier that will hover at around 10m above the
surface of Mars, before lowering the rover to the ground on
6 August 2012.
Dr Elachi described the task as, “equivalent to me being in
LA and hitting a golf ball to St Andrews here in the UK - and
the ball landing in a cup that is moving at around 60,000mph,
because Mars is moving.”
Dr Elachi said that getting a sample back from Mars is one of
NASA’s key goals and the highest priority of the decade.
groups including people from minority
ethnic groups, people with disabilities,
and people from disadvantaged
socio-economic backgrounds.
Professor Anne Neville FREng FRSE delivered the
Academy’s regional lecture in March 2012
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