• 2021 finalists for the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award are world-leading UK engineering innovations that could help us all live healthier, more sustainable lives.
• Creo Medical, DnaNudge and PragmatIC Semiconductor vie for top award in UK engineering innovation and show how engineers and technologists are crucial to the UK’s recovery and future economic development.
• Winning team will receive a £50,000 cash prize and the MacRobert Award Gold Medal, which has previously been won by the pioneers behind the CT scanner, breath biopsies and the first bionic hand.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has today announced the finalists for the 2021 MacRobert Award, the most prestigious prize for UK engineering innovation.

This year’s three finalists are pioneering engineering innovations developed in the UK, with the potential to deliver significant healthcare and lifestyle benefits. From more accurate cancer treatment and personalised medicine to new smart labels in pharmaceuticals and nutrition, each of these ground-breaking developments reflect the UK’s global leadership in engineering innovation and promise to unlock widespread societal and environmental benefits.

The MacRobert Award is run by the Royal Academy of Engineering and since 1969 has recognised engineering achievements that demonstrate outstanding innovation, tangible societal benefit and proven commercial success.

This year’s three finalists are:

• Creo Medical for its healthcare innovation in developing advanced miniaturised surgical tools that uniquely integrate radio frequency and high frequency microwave energy for highly targeted, minimally invasive endoscopic surgery, dramatically improving patient outcomes for cancer care, while minimising the need for traditional surgical interventions, moving treatment out of the operating room. The tools promise to transform clinical outcomes for patients, reducing recovery times and avoiding the risks of open surgery. The new technology enables cost savings of up to £10,000 per procedure in NHS Hospitals, a 50% saving on traditional surgery.
• DnaNudge for its pioneering genetic testing technology that enables consumers to shop more healthily – nudged by their DNA plus lifestyle. Following a simple cheek swab, DnaNudge’s NudgeBox analyser maps the user’s genetic profile to key nutrition-related health traits such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol. Customers can then use their wearable DnaBand and mobile app to scan products while they shop and be guided by their DNA towards healthier choices. The technology has been rapidly adapted into a gold-standard, 90-minute lab-free RT-PCR test for COVID-19 and is now in use in NHS hospitals, care homes, and supporting the return of the arts sector.
• PragmatIC Semiconductor for its electronic engineering innovation that takes the silicon out of silicon chips, resulting in ultra-low-cost thin and flexible integrated circuits. These can be inexpensively embedded in everyday objects from food and drink packaging to medical consumables, a crucial step in achieving the Internet of Things and addressing a range of application sectors including the circular economy and digital healthcare. The technology reduces manufacturing cycle time from months to less than a day, allowing agile “just in time” production of microchips, avoiding the risks and waste of global supply chains. In addition, traditional silicon chip fabrication methods have enormous carbon and water footprints, while the PragmatIC approach reduces this by more than 100-fold.

Each finalist team reflects the vital importance of engineering in our nation’s drive for a healthier and more sustainable society. They represent the pinnacle of UK engineering and the new frontiers of technology across fields as diverse as medical technology and the Internet of Things.

The winner of this year’s MacRobert Award will be announced in July. The winning team will receive the signature MacRobert Award gold medal and a £50,000 cash prize.

Now in its 52nd year, the MacRobert Award has an unparalleled record of recognising successful British innovations that have gone on to change the world, delivering enormous economic and societal benefits.

The first award in 1969 was made jointly for two iconic innovations: to Rolls-Royce for the Pegasus engine used in the Harrier jump jet, and to Freeman, Fox and Partners for the aerodynamic deck design of the Severn Bridge.

Several MacRobert Award winning innovations have had a major impact on healthcare and lifestyle over the years, including:

• Allowing doctors to see inside the human body with the CT scanner invented at EMI (1972 MacRobert Award winner)
• The first laser eye scanner developed by Optos (2006 winner)
• The world’s first bionic hand invented by Touch Bionics (2008 winner)
• Human motion capture in Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox360, later applied to allow surgeons to visualise operations (2011 winner)
• The credit-card sized computer that made coding and control systems accessible to all, the Raspberry Pi (2017 winner)
• Diagnosing cancer with a simple breath test, the breath biopsy from Owlstone Medical (2018 winner)

MacRobert Award winners are chosen by an expert panel of Academy Fellows, who have vast experience across engineering industry and academia.

Professor Sir Richard Friend FREng FRS, Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award judging panel, said:

“The UK is a global leader in engineering and technology, as evidenced by its proactive role in tackling the pandemic, from ventilators to vaccine production. After such a year it is no surprise to find medical engineering strongly represented across the finalists for this year’s MacRobert Award for engineering innovation. As we look to build back better for the future, the inspiring achievements of our finalists offer the potential for all of us to have more control over our health and lifestyle.

“These three companies represent the very best of engineering innovation, offering new ways to apply leading edge technologies in our daily lives. Whether using our own genetics to guide us on making healthier food choices through DnaNudge, reaping the benefits of products connected seamlessly thanks to PragmatIC’s flexible electronics or receiving more precise cancer treatment developed by Creo Medical, these developments offer huge potential advantages for the future.”

Notes to editors

The MacRobert Award

First presented in 1969, the MacRobert Award is widely regarded as the most coveted in the industry, honouring the winning organisation with a gold medal and the team members with a cash prize of £50,000. Founded by the MacRobert Trust, the award is presented and run by the Royal Academy of Engineering, with support from the Worshipful Company of Engineers.

The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

The MacRobert Award finalist teams:

• Creo Medical: Chris Hancock, CTO & FounderCraig Gulliford, CEO, Steve Morris, former COO, Dr Nuwan Dharmasiri, Principal RF and Microwave Engineer, Sandra Swain, Principal Engineer.
• DnaNudge: Professor Christofer Toumazou FREng FRS, CEO, Dr Maria Karvela, CSO, Dr Caroline Golden, Clinical Research Manager, Josef Cicinski, UK Retail Store Manager, David West, COO.
• PragmatIC: Scott White, CEO, Richard Price, CTO, Ken Williamson, COO, Catherine Ramsdale, SVP Technology, Neil Davies, VP Process.

The MacRobert Award 2021 judging panel:

• Professor Sir Richard Friend FREng FRS (Chair of judges)
  Former Cavendish Professor of Physics, University of Cambridge; Founder, Cambridge Display Technology
• Naomi Climer CBE FREng
  Non Executive Director; Former President Media Cloud Services, Sony; Vice President, Royal Academy of Engineering
• Dr Andy Harter CBE DL FREng
  Chairman, Cambridge Network; Founder and Group CEO, RealVNC
• Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng
  Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), Imperial College London
• Professor Dame Julia King, The Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE FREng FRS
  Chair, The Carbon Trust
• Professor Gordon Masterton DL OBE FREng FRSE
  Chair of Future Infrastructure, University of Edinburgh; Former Vice-President, Jacobs Professor
• Sir John McCanny CBE FREng FRS
  Regius Professor of Electronics and Computer Engineering, Queen’s University Belfast Professor
• Phil Nelson CBE FREng
  Professor of Acoustics, University of Southampton
• Dr Liane Smith FREng
  Director, Larkton Ltd; former SVP Digital Solutions, Wood Group
• Professor Sir Saeed Zahedi OBE RDI FREng
  Technical Director, Blatchford; Visiting Professor, University of Bournemouth

The Academy has awarded grants of between £5,000 and £10,000 to 14 alumni of its Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) programme to help them build high impact and collaborative local, regional, national or international communities of LIF participants.

The 14 awardees, known as LIF Champions, are leading the way in strengthening innovation ecosystems and engaging key stakeholders in support of entrepreneurship in Brazil, Colombia, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam.

The projects demonstrate a range of approaches to providing peer support and collaborations within their networks and to creating opportunities for networking and partnerships with business or innovation support networks and organisations that can help participants commercialise their innovations or multiply their impact.

The work of these new LIF Champions will build on the experience of 16 pilot projects in 2020, which collectively engaged over 530 alumni in knowledge sharing and networking activities, helped to set up new partnerships with 85 organisations and enabled 100 alumni to mentor other entrepreneurs within the local innovations ecosystems.

Innovation is the gateway for economic development and productivity of nations but creating an enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurship can be challenging. Access to growth capital, knowledge networks, local experts and mentors, inspiring local role models, spaces for prototyping and manufacturing, and support between peers can make the difference between an entrepreneur succeeding or failing.

Through the art of community-building, LIF Champions are creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to further their impact and develop the social and economic welfare of their communities.

Note to editors:

1. The Leaders in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) programme brings together emerging leaders in the global innovation community who have an engineering-based innovation that has the potential to contribute to the social and economic development of their country through commercialisation. The programme is delivered as part of the UK Newton Fund in partnership with in-country organisations.

   Through LIF, the Academy has worked with government agencies and established innovation-support institutions in 17 countries across the Global South to establish a network of over 1,100 innovators (LIF alumni). LIF alumni have become influencers and decision-makers and developed a range of deep-tech and innovative solutions contributing to all the Sustainable Development Goals, which have gone on to be manufactured, tested, commercialised, and created more than 2,500 jobs.
    

2. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

Media enquiries to: Pippa Cox at the Royal Academy of Engineering Tel. +44 207 766 0745; email: Pippa.Cox@raeng.org.uk 

• An engineering approach can help identify stakeholders with the necessary critical capabilities and build whole-society resilience

Investment in resilience now could plug key gaps in contacts and networks of the critical organisations necessary for emergency response in future, according to a report published today by the Royal Academy of Engineering. Critical capabilities: strengthening UK resilience recommends steps government should take to make the UK more resilient to new pandemics or other emergencies and avoid the mistakes of the past.

It will take time to fully understand the impact of the government’s approach to the current COVID-19 pandemic, so the report uses case studies of previous emergencies to argue that an engineering perspective could help the UK to build a more resilient future. Increased resilience will help us to better anticipate and recover from shocks to enable continued delivery of critical safety, food, energy and healthcare services.

Engineers are trained to make things work better. They see emergency response and planning as a series of interdependent and interconnected systems of capabilities. An effective national response to an emergency or crisis is one that can rapidly call on the right capabilities to deliver the most effective response at the required pace. The report describes this in terms of ‘critical capabilities’ and focuses on the actions needed to identify and build these critical capabilities ready for future emergencies.

The critical capabilities are divided into six interdependent groups: research and innovation; national assets; industrial capability; skills and labour; resources; and networks and coordination capability. Networks and coordination are essential as the bridging capability that brings the others together to understand the issue and accelerate solutions.

For national emergencies, the usually well-networked elements of the public sector and emergency services, though vital, are not sufficient and the emergency response will also need to draw on organisations, people and resources in the private and third sectors. Taking a systems view of the capabilities available in the UK could help anticipate which organisations would be relevant to different kinds of emergency responses and identify crucial connections and weaknesses ahead of time.  

Leveraging established and well-maintained links with private and third sector organisations and their capabilities is critically important but has not always been well managed and coordinated in the past. The report looks at lessons from the UK’s response to four past emergencies–the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption in 2010, the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011, flooding in Lancaster in 2015, and the WannaCry ransomware incident affecting the NHS in 2017. It calls on government to partner with the engineering profession and others to build systems thinking and consideration of critical capabilities into the UK’s approach to preparedness.

The Academy’s recommendations include:

1. Government should embed an engineer’s ‘systems’ approach in emergency planning and preparedness, looking across the public and private sector stakeholders.

2. Government should carry out an audit to map existing public, private and third sector capabilities and convening bodies against the critical capability groups and suggests this should be led by the Cabinet Office Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) in partnership with the Government Office for Science (GO-Science), devolved administrations and departmental resilience teams responsible for the risks in the National Risk Register. An aim of the audit should include developing a reporting framework to engage the private sector and build a practical mechanism to keep the audit as live as possible.

3. The CCS, in partnership with GO-Science, should work with the Royal Academy of Engineering and others to develop the critical capabilities approach into a practical tool for emergency planning, preparedness and resilience that builds on existing capabilities programmes. This should include embedding the practices for preparedness alongside current foresight and horizon scanning methods and exercises to identify and ensure that the right capabilities are in place to respond effectively and with agility to future scenarios and risks.

Paul Taylor FREng, Chair of the Academy’s Critical Capabilities working group, said: “Whatever practices and procedures are in place to help with the UK’s preparedness for future emergencies, they risk missing the mark without systems thinking and consideration of critical capabilities.

“The Integrated Review calls for a whole-society approach to resilience and Critical Capabilities is a proposal to think ahead, strategically and inclusively. Now more than ever we understand the crucial role businesses and those networks between public and private organisations can play in responding to emergencies. While upfront investment is required to strengthen existing capabilities and remedy gaps, long-term benefits will be delivered through an improved emergency response and increased national resilience.”

Dick Elsy CBE FREng, CEO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, said: “The critical capabilities approach highlights the importance of networks and coordination to bring together a range of capabilities to deliver an effective emergency response. The High Value Manufacturing Catapult played this role in the COVID-19 emergency, rapidly mobilising our network to draw on specialist expertise, innovation and industrial capability across 33 organisations to deliver more than 13,000 ventilators for the NHS in record time. Agility, skills and relationships were essential to the response showing that long-term investment in a knowledge-based economy can deliver both resilience and socioeconomic benefits.”

Ends

Notes for Editors

1. Critical capabilities: strengthening UK resilience was prepared by a working group consisting of the following group of Academy Fellows, commenting in a personal capacity and not as representatives of their respective organisations:

Chair: Paul Taylor FREng, Director, Morgan Stanley International
Sir John Beddington CMG HonFReng FRS FRSE, previously Government Chief Science Adviser
Lianne Deeming FREng, Chief Executive Officer, BlueLight Commercial
Professor Anthony Finkelstein CBE FREng, Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security
Professor David Gann CBE, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Development and External Affairs, University of Oxford
Dame Judith Hackitt DBE FREng, Chair of Make UK
Professor Nick Jennings CB FREng, Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise), Imperial College London
Professor Dame Angela McLean DBE FRS, Chief Scientific Adviser, Ministry of Defence
Professor Tim Palmer CBE FRS, Royal Society Research Professor in Climate Physics, University of Oxford
Dr Fiona Rayment OBE FREng, Chief Science and Technology Officer, National Nuclear Laboratory
Catriona Schmolke FREng, Previously Senior Vice-President, Jacobs
Auriol Stevens, Global IT Director, Applied Technology, Unilever
Professor Eleanor Stride FREng, Professor of Engineering Science, University of Oxford
Rear Admiral John Trewby CB FREng, Chair, previously Chair of Harris Defence Ltd

2. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

Media enquiries to: Pippa Cox at the Royal Academy of Engineering Tel. +44 207 766 0745; email: Pippa.Cox@raeng.org.uk

• Expansion of Amazon Future Engineer bursary scheme will support women students from low-income households studying computer science and related engineering courses at UK universities

The Royal Academy of Engineering is working with Amazon to launch a new Amazon Future Engineer bursary scheme in the UK. Twelve awards, worth £5,000 a year for up to four years, will be made available to students progressing from A level or technical education courses to university for the 2021/22 academic year. The new bursaries will help students who demonstrate a drive and passion for computing and engineering, and an understanding of how innovation and creativity in these fields can help solve some of the world’s greatest challenges.

Women are still significantly underrepresented in engineering and technology in higher education. UCAS data on university application and acceptance figures for the 2020 cycle highlighted that women represent just 16% and 18% of accepted applications to computing and engineering degrees respectively. At the current rate of progress, parity of women in engineering degrees will not be achieved until 2085.

Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “The Academy and Amazon share an ambition to inspire and support young people to become the next generation of engineers, and I welcome the opportunity to work together in encouraging more women and girls from all backgrounds to take up careers in engineering and computing. We need a greater diversity of views and experiences working within these professions if we are to come up with effective solutions to the many challenges that society faces. At the current rate of progress, to achieve the same number of women as men on degree courses for these subjects would take another 74 years. We simply cannot afford to wait that long.”

“Our new bursary scheme with the Royal Academy of Engineering will help more women become the innovation leaders of the UK” said John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager, Amazon. “More needs to be done to encourage women to enter these fields and break down barriers that students face. The Amazon Future Engineer bursary scheme is just one of the ways that we are helping to increase the representation of women in the UK innovation economy and exciting careers in computer science.”

Amazon Future Engineer bursaries are open to students enrolling onto courses such as electrical and electronic engineering, computer science, artificial intelligence and software engineering in the UK. The bursaries will focus on areas of the UK that have been identified as social mobility cold spots—places in the country where opportunities and outcomes for young people need improving. Awardees will be invited to attend annual networking and training weekends and will have access to a community forum providing support from the Royal Academy of Engineering and Amazon. They will also receive news of available internships, as well as mentoring and funding to help them progress from university into engineering and computing careers.

The bursary scheme is part of Amazon Future Engineer, Amazon’s comprehensive childhood-to-career programme to inspire, educate and enable children and young adults from lower-income backgrounds to try computer science and related engineering courses.

Notes for Editors

1. UCAS data on university application and acceptance figures for the 2020 cycle published on ucas.com, 4 February 2021: ‘Students turn to technology with university choices’ – https://www.ucas.com/corporate/news-and-key-documents/news/students-turn-technology-university-choices
2. Applications for bursaries for academic year 2021/2022 can be made via the Royal Academy of Engineering here: www.raeng.org.uk/afebursary
3. As part of Amazon’s commitment to developing the next generation of engineers and computer scientists, Amazon are also supporting a number of Royal Academy of Engineering initiatives, including the national Connecting STEM Teachers programme; a support network for teachers across all STEM subjects that ensures they have the knowledge and confidence to engage a greater number and wider spectrum of school students with STEM. The programme works with 1,000 schools and operates across all regions of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
4. Amazon also support This is Engineering a campaign that brings engineering to life for young people, giving more of them the opportunity to pursue a career that is rewarding, future-shaping, varied, well-paid and in-demand.
5. About Amazon: Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion or invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalised recommendations, Prime, Fulfilment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit aboutamazon.co.uk and follow @AmazonNewsUK.
6. About Amazon in the Community: Amazon has long been committed to communities where our employees live and work and we focus on building long-term, innovative, and high impact programmes that leverage Amazon’s unique assets and culture. We want all children and young adults to have the resources and skills to build their best future. We concentrate on “right now needs” – via programmes that address hunger, homelessness, and disaster relief efforts – as well as programmes like Amazon Future Engineer, designed to inspire and excite children and young adults from underrepresented communities to pursue careers in the rapidly growing field of computer science.
7. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

Media enquiries to Pippa Cox at the Royal Academy of Engineering: E: pippa.cox@raeng.org.uk; T: 020 7766 0645

Battery-free tracking pioneer PervasID, a company founded by Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub member Dr Sabesan Sithamparanathan, has been honoured with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation 2021. PervasID joins over 7,000 UK enterprises that have received this Royal recognition since the Queen’s Awards were established in 1965.

PervasID’s technology for passive RAIN (RAdio frequency IdentificatioN) RFID fixed reader systems for automating inventory tracking, stock-taking and asset management processes was developed in Cambridge and is sold around the world. The company’s patented products allow organisations across a range of markets to streamline processes by providing unparalleled visibility into goods, assets and people. PervasID’s unique technology solution delivers unparalleled accuracy, speed and cost effectiveness.

A single PervasID RFID reader can cover up to 400 m² with 99% plus accuracy in real time, capable of readily scaling to much larger areas, such as industrial warehouses, multi-storey buildings or sprawling healthcare campuses. The company’s RFID readers have significantly greater accuracy, range and speed than any other RFID readers on the market. Its fixed reader products have been deployed in Europe, Asia and the US and clients include high-profile department stores, industrial companies, healthcare establishments, systems integrators and large-scale enterprises. PervasID is headquartered in Cambridge UK, with employees in France and the US.

“There are few things more critical to an enterprise than having clear oversight of where assets are and making sure that they are being used in the most efficient way possible. Our Cambridge-developed battery-free technology allows enterprises of all types to keep track of their inventory and asset cost effectively with unparalleled accuracy and speed,” said Sabesan Sithamparanathan, Founder & CEO of PervasID. “Our company has grown rapidly, with deployments around the globe, and we are delighted to have been recognised with this Queen’s Award for our innovation.”

Notes for editors

1. PervasID is a fast-growing technology company that designs and supplies world-leading, passive (battery-free) RFID fixed reader systems for automating inventory tracking, stock taking and asset management processes. Our patented products are enabling organisations across a wide range of markets to streamline processes by providing unparalleled visibility into goods, assets and people. No other solution on the market today can offer such accuracy, speed and cost effectiveness.

2. The Enterprise Hub’s mission is to increase the number and quality of high-growth engineering and technology companies that solve some of society’s most pressing challenges. We’re fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation and success among engineers in the UK, and creating more jobs and economic growth.

3. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone.

   In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public.

   Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

For more information please contact:

Jane Sutton at the Royal Academy of Engineering
T: +44 207 766 0636
E: jane.sutton@raeng.org.uk

The Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering have published a bibliometric analysis of the quantity of global shale gas research published between 2009 and 2018. The analysis is designed to aid academics, industrialists and governments who are interested in the extent of shale gas research.

Bibliometric Assessment of Global Shale Gas Research 2009 – 2018, provides a quantitative analysis of published studies and highlights trends in shale gas research on different topics and in different global regions.  The analysis was conducted by Elsevier Analytical Services.

Professor Hywel Thomas CBE FREng FRS FLSW, Chair of the steering group who oversaw the project, said:

“Negotiating all the research in any field can be difficult and so our work should be a useful guide for those wanting to look at the scientific study of shale gas.”

The analysis shows that between 2009 and 2018 research into shale gas increased dramatically and was relative highly cited, although the rate of growth slowed between 2014 to 2018, compared to between 2009 and 2013.  It also found that the field-weighted citation impact, while remaining above the average for all fields, had reduced in the latter period.

The analysis looks at five broad areas of research: resource estimation; fracturing fluid, composition, treatment, storage, and disposal; methane leakage and groundwater contamination; seismic monitoring; and public perception and governance.

Notes for Editors:

1. In 2012, the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering published a joint report on shale gas exploitation – Shale gas extraction in the UK: a review of hydraulic fracturing.

2. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

3. The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine. The Society’s fundamental purpose, as it has been since its foundation in 1660, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.

• New report from the National Engineering Policy Centre, led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, concludes that a future as a science and innovation superpower is achievable but only with greater and more targeted government policies and support
• There is a choice to be made—enable companies to take bold risks here, or they will go elsewhere.

A report published today by the National Engineering Policy Centre warns that the government’s ambitions for the UK to be a leading global innovation-driven low-carbon economy are likely to fail unless it makes the UK a more attractive place for businesses to invest in and carry out late-stage research and development (R&D).

Late-stage R&D is a key part of the innovation process and accounts for the majority of R&D that businesses do. It is how they take a proof of concept or prototype through to commercial application, ultimately delivering new and improved products, processes, technologies and services to market and creating jobs in the process.

Late-stage R&D: business perspectives argues that the socio-economic benefits that result from late-stage R&D mean that there is a compelling case for the public sector to support it. The UK government also needs to improve incentives for business investment in late-stage R&D if it is to achieve its stated target of investing 2.4% of GDP into R&D by 2027 and 3% in the longer term, the report recommends. Private sector businesses currently contribute approximately two thirds of the UK’s R&D investment, much of it in late-stage R&D. To achieve its targets and avoid the looming shortfall in investment of around £20 billion, government must encourage businesses to invest a lot more in R&D, and quickly.

Late-stage R&D is iterative, non-linear and complex and carries risks arising from the scale of the technical challenge, cost, timings, certainty of market opportunity, competitive environment and opportunities or barriers to commercialisation. The study outlines that understanding these and the policy levers at government’s disposal is key to identifying actions that can be taken to ensure more late-stage R&D is carried out in the UK.

The National Engineering Policy Centre interviewed individuals responsible for R&D in 32 engineering businesses across a range of sectors, sizes and locations. The real-life examples gathered in the report highlight five common resources that are essential for conducting and managing risks associated with late-stage R&D, and that government can influence to help the UK become more attractive to business and internationally competitive. These are R&D infrastructure, investment, people, partnerships and market environment.

The report outlines a vision for 2027 in which the government’s ambitions that the UK is a global science superpower benefiting from innovation, growth and undergoing a green revolution are a reality and makes recommendations for how this could be achieved. These include:

• Place late-stage R&D at the heart of its Plan for Growth and upcoming innovation strategy
• Target support to late-stage R&D, with mechanisms that help businesses manage risk, filling gaps in current support
• Strengthen and scale existing initiatives, institutions and infrastructures that support late-stage R&D
• Signal and promote the UK’s offer for late-stage R&D and innovation to international investors

Professor Neville Jackson FREng, Chair of the working group behind the report, said: “It is hard to overstate the scale of challenge if the UK is to stay competitive on the global stage particularly given the context of COVID-19, new trading relationships and the imperative to ‘build back better’. There is a choice to be made—enable businesses to take bold risks here or they will go elsewhere. Innovation will happen irrespective of the UK’s policies, what is at stake is our ability to derive growth from our research base. Without an expanded late-stage R&D capability, we will lose the benefit from our creativity to our international competitors.”

“With better understanding of the risks involved for businesses in late-stage R&D and greater appetite to share this risk, the UK government could pave the way for more businesses to conduct these activities in the UK, reaping the returns from public investment in research whilst securing future growth and international competitiveness.”

Notes for Editors

1. Late-stage R&D: business perspectives draws on interviews with personnel including the following companies (featured case studies in bold): BAE Systems; BP; BT; CCm Technologies; Darktrace; Domino Printing Services: Electricity North West; GKN Automotive; GSK; INEOS; ITM Power; M Squared Lasers; McLaren Applied Technologies (Project ESCAPE); Procter and Gamble; Radio Designs; QinetiQ; Renishaw; Ricardo; Rolls Royce; Siemens; Spirit AeroSystems; Surrey Satellite; Unipart Manufacturing; Ventilator Challenge UK; Vivacity Labs.
2. The National Engineering Policy Centre is a unified voice for 43 professional engineering organisations, representing 450,000 engineers, a partnership led by the Royal Academy of Engineering. We give policymakers a single route to advice from across the engineering profession. We inform and respond to policy issues of national importance, for the benefit of society.
3. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

Media enquiries to Pippa Cox at the Royal Academy of Engineering Tel. +44 207 766 0745; email: Pippa.Cox@raeng.org.uk

The Royal Academy of Engineering and WMG, at the University of Warwick are inviting entries for a new annual award to celebrate collaboration between UK academics and industry. With a cash prize of £25,000, the Bhattacharyya Award will be presented to the team who best demonstrate how industry and universities can work together. Entries must be submitted by 31 May 2021.

The Bhattacharyya Award is funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and was announced in July 2019 and as a tribute to Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya KT CBE FREng FRS, the Regius Professor of Manufacturing at the University of Warwick and founder of WMG.

Starting his career as a graduate apprentice at Lucas Industries, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya became Britain’s first ever Professor of Manufacturing. Having seen first-hand how slowly academic advances were translated into real business and social change, he founded WMG in 1980 to help business innovate and help university researchers change our lives. Academic excellence with industrial relevance has always been at the heart of WMG, and today, it is one of the world’s top applied research centres, with a reputation for academic excellence and business results spanning the globe.

The Bhattacharyya Award is open to all UK universities and colleges, which are invited to submit a single entry in this round. Entries may be based on any field but must provide evidence of sustained, strategic collaboration over at least five years that is still active at the point of submission and has spanned multiple projects, grants and activities. The collaboration should be focused around an academic team and one or more declared industrial partners – it should not be restricted to a single lead academic but may reflect a wide institutional partnership.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: “We are extremely proud to be funding the Bhattacharyya Award, which encourages collaboration between our fantastic universities and businesses. By working hand-in-hand, academic advances can be quickly translated to industry, bringing forward game-changing innovations and helping us to build back better from the pandemic.”

Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, immediate past-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, will chair the judging panel for the Bhattacharyya Award. She said: “Lord Bhattacharyya was a strong advocate of an effective industrial strategy, seeking a revitalisation of skills policy, a growth in apprenticeships, a focus on the impact of research and training and technology partnerships between industry and universities. We hope that this new award will showcase best practice in developing effective collaborations between universities and industry – and inspire productive new partnerships in the future.”

Margot James, Executive Chair at WMG, University of Warwick said “The Bhattacharyya Award amplifies the approach Professor Lord Bhattacharyya took in revolutionising how universities research and educate to meet the needs of industry and society. Relevant and impactful research is the product of genuine collaboration; also enabling education programmes that nurture the brightest talent. We are looking forward to seeing a wide range of entries which exemplify the very best of university/ industry collaboration.”

Notes for Editors

1. Entries for the Bhattacharyya Award must be submitted by 16.00 on Monday 31 May 2021. Full details of the selection criteria and how to apply are available at https://www.raeng.org.uk/grants-prizes/grants/support-for-research/bhattacharyya-award/how-to-apply

2. About WMG, University of Warwick

WMG is a world leading research and education group, transforming organisations and driving innovation through a unique combination of collaborative research and development, and pioneering education programmes.

As an international role model for successful partnerships between academia and the private and public sectors, WMG develops advancements nationally and globally, in applied science, technology and engineering, to deliver real impact to economic growth, society and the environment.

WMG’s education programmes focus on lifelong learning of the brightest talent, from the WMG Academies for Young Engineers, degree apprenticeships, undergraduate and postgraduate, through to professional programmes.

An academic department of the University of Warwick, and a centre for the HVM Catapult, WMG was founded by the late Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya in 1980 to help reinvigorate UK manufacturing and improve competitiveness through innovation and skills development.

3. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone.

In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public.

Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

For more information please contact:

Jane Sutton at the Royal Academy of Engineering

T: 020 7766 0636

E:  Jane Sutton

Commenting on the anticipated government pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 78 per cent by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, Professor Nilay Shah OBE FREng, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Vice-Chair of the National Engineering Policy Centre Net Zero working group, says: “The engineering community welcomes this ambitious and necessary target of 78% emissions reduction by 2035. It is vital both for the planet and for our success in reaching the ultimate goal of net zero that we eliminate the large majority of greenhouse gas emissions in the next decade. It is encouraging that the Prime Minister recognises this and is setting out strong targets in advance, giving society, industry and government time to work together towards them.

“However, the UK is still not on track to meet even its previous carbon targets, and this new goal of 78% emissions reduction by 2035 will not be reached without sweeping energy efficiency measures and ensuring that all government policies actively and coherently contribute to achieving this target. In the run up to COP26, government should publish a detailed and flexible plan for each high-carbon sector of the economy, and account for the connections between them and the social or behavioural basis for change using a systems approach. Engineers from every discipline will design, build, retrofit, operate and make safe the infrastructure and technologies for a decarbonised UK to be fully achieved, and we will play our part to build a net zero UK.”

Led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the National Engineering Policy Centre’s programme of work ‘Net Zero: a systems approach to the climate challenge’ is developing interdisciplinary insights into the best way to reach net zero in the UK. The Centre will soon be publishing a framework for identifying ‘low-regret’ measures that government and industry can take to get the UK started on the journey to net zero, for use until a comprehensive roadmap to net zero is developed.

For more detail on the UK’s net zero target please see our explainer: Net Zero by 2050 Explained

Notes for editors

1. The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone. In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public. Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.
    

Media enquiries to Pippa Cox at the Royal Academy of Engineering Tel. +44 207 766 0745; email: Pippa.Cox@raeng.org.uk

The Royal Academy of Engineering has announced 26 new Ingenious Public Engagement awards for projects that will engage the public with an exciting variety of engineering themes. With topics ranging from engineering solutions to the global climate emergency to engineering bedtime stories for young children, the projects will work with diverse audiences across the UK, igniting interest in the wonders of engineering to help inspire the next generation of engineers.

The Ingenious programme offers grants of up to £30,000 to support creative public engagement with engineering projects while providing engineers with skills and opportunities to share their stories, passion and expertise with the public.

In Bedtime Stories for Very Young Engineers, Engineers from diverse engineering fields across the UK will write short bedtime stories about their area of engineering expertise that will enthral and inspire children, introducing 2–5-year-olds to the world of making, improving and maintaining the human-made world around us.

Engineering Humans, run by a multi-disciplinary team from the University of Central Lancashire, will exhibit the latest advances in technology. The virtual programme showcasing robotics, human rehabilitation and enhancement technology will be delivered to over 300 aspirational high school pupils from Central and Eastern Lancashire.

Many of this year’s projects focus on environmental issues, from creating a more sustainable future, reducing plastic waste, to the role of engineering in tackling climate change.

Engineers from Swansea University will develop several public engagement activities in Engineering In Your Future: Sustainable City focusing on the role of engineering in working towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including the diverse perspectives required to aid innovation and creative thinking.

Urban NatureBots: exploring the natural world through engineering and technology, will see a collaboration between Leeds Libraries, Leeds Museums and the University of Leeds. Working together the team will create a modular STEAM-focused series of activities, focusing on tackling environmental issues and using developments in technology for societal and environmental good.

The School of Engineering at the University of Liverpool will engineer solutions to the global climate emergency in The Future Food Engineering & Enterprise Challenge through an enterprise competition that will pair engineer mentors and young people from marginalised and under-represented groups across Merseyside. The young people and their mentors will collaborate throughout the year to develop a start-up business that will bring sustainable food production to their local community.

BLAST Fest Youth Media Fellowships: Grand Challenges, Local Goals will engage engineers with young creatives to explore the role of Engineering in responding to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement. Working with engineers and mentors, four young creatives will explore the role of Engineering in responding to such challenges and how we can imagine, build, and communicate an inclusive economy and sustainable future for all.

The Ingenious panel was particularly interested in projects that focused on changing perceptions of engineers and reaching underrepresented audiences. Panel Chair Professor Anthony Finkelstein CBE FREng said “We are delighted to be supporting such a rich mix of projects through the Ingenious awards. In particular we have funded many projects that focus on working with groups currently underrepresented in engineering, such as New Scots Connect, where engineers will work with refugees and asylum seekers and those with diverse migration backgrounds, in building engagement through creative engineering-themed activities. As a panel we are passionate about supporting projects that focus on the future of engineering and provide engineers with the opportunity to engage new and diverse audiences. These projects will give engineers the opportunity to showcase their work and gain confidence from working with the public and inspiring interests in engineering.”

Funded project list

Engineering Heroes of the Future

The Bristol Initiative Charitable Trust, Bristol

In Engineering Heroes of the Future, Engineers will help to design and deliver an entertaining investigative game about future roles in engineering. The game will be designed to enable a diverse audience of 8- to 13-year-olds to collaborate, play and socialise.

Working with an audience and engineers from a BAME background, workshops to build the characters and define how these are used will be supported by Bath and Bristol Engine Shed (Enterprise Zone) and University of the West of England (Communication Unit /Robotics Lab). Outcomes will be tested with partner schools before final production and wider promotion and use by STEM Ambassadors, businesses and schools.

Let’s Play Wester Hailes

Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh

Let’s Play Wester Hailes is a collaboration between community arts organisation WHALE Arts and the School of Computing at Edinburgh Napier University. The project will engage with young people in Wester Hailes to create and code a series of video games based around the area in which they live. Wester Hailes is a housing scheme on the edge of Edinburgh that has been reported as an area of significant social deprivation. Games companies and young software engineers who work in the gaming industry will be invited to share their experiences.

This celebration of video games aims to introduce young people to the engineering skills required to make great video games. Bringing games professionals together with the audience will help to create opportunities for software engineers to engage with an interested public while simultaneously prompting our audience to consider a career in games development.

ICanToo: Inspirational, Educational, Unique

The REACT Foundation, Cumbria

ICanToo brings together engineers with underachieving Year 9-11 students in West Cumbria to provide inspirational, educational, and unique STEM-related experiences. Activities will range from inspirational talks to engineering facility visits, regular assertive mentoring, culminating in a residential trip to an industrial city to explore its engineering heritage.

Through ICanToo, The REACT Foundation will support a diverse range of students who are not reaching their potential, working with those who have the aptitude to succeed, but who lack aspiration or are from deprived backgrounds with insufficient support.

Local engineers will be given a platform to share their passion and expertise while improving key engagement skills. By engaging students with engineers, the gap between school STEM subjects and real-world application will be bridged, demonstrating the future opportunities available and inspiring a new generation of engineers.

Inspiring young, disadvantaged children to the world of engineering work

National Literacy Trust, North East of England

Dream Big is a five-week programme that provides an opportunity for engineers to inspire disadvantaged children aged 5 to 7 years in the North East of England to the world of engineering work.

The National Literacy Trust will deliver a fully immersive experience in the world of work for children, which will be followed up with a half term of classroom lessons exploring different roles each week. Finally, by participating in Dream Big day, children can safely explore different roles through free and imaginative play, before being celebrated and rewarded for their participation.

The project will specifically raise awareness of engineering roles among disadvantaged children, enabling them to imagine their futures in this sector, as well as improving the communication and engagement skills of engineers.

The Future Food Engineering & Enterprise Challenge

University of Liverpool, Merseyside

The Future Food Engineering & Enterprise Challenge will pair engineer mentors and young people from marginalised and under-represented groups across Merseyside to engineer solutions to the global climate emergency through a multi-stage, inter-school enterprise competition.

The young people and their mentors will collaborate throughout the year to develop a start-up business that will bring sustainable food production to their local community. The year will culminate with a ‘dragon’s den’ style pitching competition where teams present their solution to a panel of Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub Fellows.

The project, led by the University of Liverpool’s School of Engineering, will test and develop an activity framework drawing on YESTEM’s equity compass, supporting engineers to engage young people, their teachers and families beyond the lifespan of the project

Anytime, Anywhere Engineers

National Farmers’ Union, across the UK

Anytime, Anywhere Engineers will provide primary school children from rural communities and their families with a unique insight into the world of engineering. Through five engaging and interactive online family STEM club sessions, children will learn about life as an engineer as they are guided through a series of activities based on real-life engineering practices and principles. Led by the National Farmers’ Union, each session will be hosted by agricultural engineers, who will run the sessions alongside experienced education practitioners.

These live sessions will be recorded and shared online alongside immersive, interactive 3D tours of five different engineering workplaces so the children can explore the world of engineering at their own pace. Educational videos and interviews, tailored to primary learners, will be embedded into the virtual tours to further enhance the learning experience.

Engineer the Story with TikTok 

Ideas Foundation, London

Engineer the Story with TikTok enables engineers to create micro stories about their work that can be shared on TikTok, as well as Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook. 

Ideas Foundation will work engineers from diverse backgrounds and challenge them to create online stories that will change the perception of engineering on platforms such as TikTok that are trying to increase the quality of their education content. The online stories will be aimed at young people and their families who are increasingly using online platforms for careers insights. 

The project will work closely with the Engineering Departments at Queen Mary University of London, King’s College as well as engineers from other universities. 

Engineering Humans

University of Lancashire, Lancashire

Engineering Humans is a virtual programme showcasing robotics, human rehabilitation and enhancement technology to inspire the next wave of engineers from Central and Eastern Lancashire.

Advanced robotics, cobot and automation research and design are burgeoning fields in the region. This locale shows high economic diversity and positions this new online programme perfectly to be delivered to over 300 aspirational high school pupils.

A multi-disciplinary team from the University of Central Lancashire will recruit some of the world’s best and brightest minds to spotlight their stories. Engineers, co-creating with a student-led media production team will produce fascinating insights through short narrative interviews that will be combined with live online demonstrations by a group of industry volunteers, showcasing the latest advances in technology.  

Daughters of Invention primary schools engineering partnership with Birmingham University

The Play House, Birmingham

Daughters of Invention is an exciting drama and engineering project that will develop student engineers’ confidence and skills in public engagement while increasing primary school children’s engagement in and understanding of engineering.

A team of drama practitioners from The Play House and eight PhD and MEng Engineering students from the University of Birmingham’s Mechanical Engineering Department will develop a series of 12 immersive drama and engineering workshops, which will be delivered to 240 Year 5 children from four inner-city primary schools.

Working with girls and children in Birmingham from under-represented backgrounds in engineering, the project will raise children’s aspirations, as well as increasing their confidence to participate in higher education.

Engineering Sustainable Photographic Processes

University of Birmingham, Birmingham

Using household items and materials from their local environment, Key Stage 4 students and teachers from diverse communities in the West Midlands will take part in a series of workshops about sustainability in engineering.

An artist-photographer and engineers from the University of Birmingham will show participants how to create photographic prints, using materials engineering skills to build cameras and to create their own developers and emulsions. The project will provide an engineering challenge to be solved using sustainable best practice.

Students and teachers will develop the capacity to see everyday items as engineering tools. Throughout the workshops, the team will actively encourage participants to consider all their activities, both in and outside the project, in the context of sustainable practice and engineering.

BLAST Fest Youth Media Fellowships: Grand Challenges, Local Goals

BLAST Fest, Birmingham

As the world recalibrates in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement, the voices of young people in shaping a better future are more important than ever. The BLAST Fest Youth Media Fellowships will engage engineers with young creatives aged 18-24 to explore the role of engineering in responding to such challenges and how we can reimagine, rebuild and communicate an inclusive economy and sustainable future for all.

Four Youth BLAST Media Fellows will be matched with both an engineer and a creative mentor and receive a bursary that includes a small event production budget. The Fellows will attend multimedia and science communication masterclasses and be connected to engineering and media networks, and career development opportunities. The creative content generated through the Fellowship will be platformed through BLAST Fest live and online events, and the cohort’s journey collated into a final short film.

Bedtime Stories for Very Young Engineers

Clever Make Funny Productions , London

Bedtime Stories for Very Young Engineers will give engineers, parents and carers the skills, information and raw materials they need to create fun and engaging bedtime stories to introduce 2–5-year-olds to the world of making, improving and maintaining the human-made world around us.

Working with award-winning engineer and storyteller Dr Anna Ploszajski and public engagement professional Dr Steve Cross, Engineers from diverse engineering fields across the UK will write short bedtime stories about their area of engineering expertise that will enthral and inspire children.

The engineers will find that they can use their storytelling skills in the workplace, and in time, it is hoped that a new generation will become excited by engineering.

Build-a-Bear 2.0: your favourite animal made from plastic waste

Newcastle University, Newcastle

Plastics have invaded our world from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench. While plastic waste is a huge environment challenge, the material is really useful for essential items such as personal protective equipment.

Working with underrepresented groups in engineering in the Northeast and Northwest, the project team from Newcastle University will demonstrate how to design their favourite animal or name and print their designs with resin made of recyclable waste, which can be taken home as a lasting legacy.

Build-a-Bear 2.0 will build awareness of the impact of plastic on the environment and on human health and will show how engineers are working to reduce plastic waste and inspire a young generation of future engineers to take action and contribute to sustainability.

Creatively creating the materials of the future

University of Leeds, Leeds

Creatively creating the materials of the future will deliver public engagement activities that embrace creativity and creative thinking to allow young people and families to explore innovation in material design.

Using the Bragg Centre for Materials Research at the University of Leeds as a platform, the project will connect engineers and artists to work together and explore innovation in materials design. Supported and trained to develop material for an interactive web-based resource, Engineers will share the creativity and imagination of their materials research with the public, including videos, demonstrations, interviews, games, an open competition and an engineering creativity bag. These resources will engage community groups, youth groups and their families, with the competition forming part of a public exhibition in Yorkshire, showcasing the innovative advanced materials developed by the engineers, captured through the imagination of members of the public.

Engineering Play: Activity Design for Pre-School Innovators

Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh

In Engineering Play: Activity Design for Pre-School Innovators, Heriot-Watt University, and Nurture the Play will work with 20 engineers to design and deliver activities communicating engineering concepts to pre-schoolers and their families through play. Engineers will gain skills in working with early years audiences, developing their knowledge of learning through play and gaining expertise in engagement with low-science capital families via both online and face-to-face interactions.

This project utilises play to engage pre-school children with engineering, combining songs and stories with specific toys and hands-on challenges/activities, covering a diverse range of less-traditional engineering topics. With the help of 20 selected families, a range of developed resources will be trialled to improve activities and evaluate the most successful approaches to build science/engineering capital for families with pre-school children living in areas of multiple deprivation in Edinburgh.

Engineering for All

The Isle of Wight College, Isle of Wight

Engineering for All will establish access and equal opportunity into engineering, raising awareness of engineering and a wider understanding of its importance in today’s world. It will inspire groups with lower aspiration, participation and representation in engineering and sustainable technology such as Wind Energy, Robotics, Precision Engineering, Aeronautical, Electronics, Mechanical, Composites, Marine etc.

Targeting females, younger people, care leavers and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, the project will inspire and promote confidence in progressing into engineering focussed learning and work, creating opportunities for disadvantaged backgrounds across the Isle of Wight.

Activities will include events on National Women in Engineering day and School programme developing including projects -such as Robotwars, Introduction to Cobots, projects-open to all schools but reserved places for young people from disadvantaged areas.

Engineering: Take a closer look

Manufacturing NI, Northern Ireland

In Engineering: Take a closer look, Manufacturing NI will work with engineers from 15 local engineering firms to help them engage with and deliver a series of engineering inspired events and activities as part of Manufacturing Month Northern Ireland in May 2021 and through to May 2022. The project will provide engineers with the opportunity to gain experience in public engagement and inspire diverse audiences on the importance of engineering.

The project will work with pupils and their families from 6 schools which form part of the Roe Valley Learning Community and will train engineers from 15 engineering firms, as well as 6th form pupils in Northern Ireland and local manufacturers.

Ingenious Engineering

Bangor University, Bangor

In Ingenious Engineering, Bangor University will work with local sixth-formers in North Wales, aged between 16 and 18. Cutting through traditional academic boundaries with mentoring from industrial and academic partners, they will embrace ingenious and enterprising aspects of engineering to support the rural community in the North West Wales region.

Students will attend a series of workshops focusing on inspiration, creativity, sustainability, and commercial awareness of various aspects of engineering, then develop a concept for a product and experience that encourages a healthy lifestyle and mental wellbeing. 

The project will culminate in an exhibition and presentations, with participating sixth-formers ‘pitching’ their concept to a panel of academic and commercial experts.

Urban NatureBots: Exploring the natural world through engineering and technology

Leeds Libraries, Leeds

Working together, Leeds Libraries, Leeds Museums and Galleries and the University of Leeds will create a modular STEAM-focused series of activities, focusing on tackling environmental issues and using developments in technology for societal and environmental good.

A programme of workshops aimed at young people aged 7 – 14 and their families will inspire the next generation of digital makers and engineers through creative experiments using a variety of easy to access electronics kits. The workshops will take place over the course of a year, using newly formed adjustable and transportable makerspaces. Inspiration will be drawn from Leeds Museums MyLearning and insect collections plus Leeds Libraries’ specialist collections, including local engineer John Smeaton, the Gott Bequest and Genera insectorum Linnaei et Fabricii.

Families will work with engineering researchers from the University of Leeds to explore how robotics, Internet of Things and data analytics can be combined to monitor and help the natural world around us.

REACH: Researchers’ and Engineers’ Alliance for Communication in Healthcare

University of Bristol, Bristol

REACH will bring together engineers from academia and industry with public engagement specialists to create a platform that will promote a culture of public engagement within the biomedical engineering community.

The project will inspire bioengineers across different disciplines such as cardiovascular engineering, sensors, robotics, artificial intelligence, imaging/image-processing and 3D printing to embrace public engagement, co-creation and creative interdisciplinary collaborations as part of their work.

REACH will also enable outreach activities and promotion of the diverse and multifaceted nature of bioengineering, particularly targeting students in schools and universities as well as engineering graduates who have drifted away from the field or who want to apply their engineering skills to advancing healthcare and wellbeing.

Regional Community Celebrations of STEM

SCDI, Scotland

Regional Community Celebrations of STEM will provide schools in remote communities of Scotland, Highland, Shetland and Orkney, with funding to develop a STEM project to showcase and compete for primary and secondary Regional Club of the Year titles.

Working with SCDI, engineers will provide STEM challenges, drop-in activities and talks, and pupils will have the opportunity to interact with engineers and engage with engineering outside of normal educational settings, as well as explore the range of STEM careers available. Teachers will also be able to share best practices and their enthusiasm for STEM.

This project will focus on engaging with those currently under-represented in the engineering community, specifically girls, and those from geographically remote or deprived communities.

New Scots Connect

Science Ceilidh, Edinburgh

New Scots Connect will link New Scots, including refugees, asylum seekers and those with diverse migration backgrounds in Scotland, with engineers. 

In partnership with Multicultural Family Base and Napier University, it will support a youth-led creative engineering community programme, along with connecting New Scots adults – many with their own technical and engineering backgrounds – to connect with Scottish engineering, share transferable skills, develop technical English language skills and support cross-cultural exchange and learning. 

Science Ceilidh will also be extending the reach of the project by developing resources for other youth workers and other refugee and migrant support organisations across Scotland and the UK to engage with engineering and showcase diverse migrant voices and stories. 

Engineer your future: a taster in careers in electronics

University of Sheffield, Sheffield

In Engineer your future, academics at the department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Sheffield will develop a series of technical activities, culminating in an annual weeklong taster course in electronics for 17-year-olds from surrounding state schools.

The project will be conducted in partnership with Work-wise Foundation, a Yorkshire based not-for-profit organisation focussed on the development of STEM skills in young people from all backgrounds. The partnership will also feature the EDT, local teachers, and industry professionals.

The workshop will include visits to local industry with a final competition based on an FM surveillance transmitter that participants will make and take home with them. Activities for schools and teachers will continue beyond the workshop, including opportunities for mentorship with both academia and industry.

Training and mentoring innovative technology engineering ambassadors

Bloodhound education, Gloucester

Bloodhound education will raise the profile of careers in STEM by providing the opportunity for students to engage in practical activities which develop the essential work skills which will be transferrable in any career.

Students will develop essential employability skills through contextualised learning activities and will be encouraged to consider taking relevant subjects at school that will ultimately lead to a STEM career.

The project will showcase the latest engineering technologies in the Gloucester area and train, equip and mentor a new group of ambassadors from local apprentice groups to work with the students.

Engineering In Your Future: Sustainable City

College of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea

Engineering In Your Future: Sustainable City will see Engineers from Swansea University develop several public engagement activities that focus on the role of engineering in working toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

There will be a particular focus on the diverse perspectives required to aid innovation and creative thinking during collaborative problem solving, as well as the need for just engineering solutions, which will benefit a wide cross-section of the society.

Activities will be delivered to secondary schools from the South West Wales area, with the project culminating in a design challenge and prize giving ceremony at Swansea University.

The Janus Project – Engineering the Past and the Future

Loughborough University, Loughborough

The Roman god Janus is often depicted with two faces: one looking to the past; the other looking to the future. The Janus Project: Engineering the Past and the Future is a new outreach initiative from Loughborough University that aims to engage local students with engineering by encouraging them to examine the recent history of the sector and consider how it will shape the future. Through a series of thought-provoking activities, Key stage 4 and 5 students will engage with academic and industry engineers to discover a range of engineering disciplines and understand their real-world applications.

Notes for Editors

The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone.

In collaboration with our Fellows and partners, we’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public.

Together we’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.

For more information please contact:

Helena Sutcliffe at the Royal Academy of Engineering

T: +44 207 7660 767

E:  Helena Sutcliffe