The Institution of Engineering and Technology has announced the winners of its prestigious Achievement Awards. Those honoured are some of the world’s top engineering and technology minds and talent, who have pioneered a range of engineering innovations from inventing ‘app stores’ and designing radar systems to developing digital radio and television broadcasting.
The IET Achievement Awards recognise individuals who have made an exceptional contribution to the advancement of science, engineering and technology in any sector, either through research and development in their respective technical field or through their leadership of an enterprise.
This year’s medal winners include Professor Christofer Toumazou, a pioneer in personalised medicine; Keith Hayler, a leading sound and global broadcast engineer and Alexander Bennett who is a chief engineer at the age of 29 and leads team working jet fighters, naval ships and air and ground vehicles.
Faraday medal winner Professor Toumazou, has dedicated his work to saving and improving lives through the invention of revolutionary, innovative and disruptive technology. And he has gone on to create a leading edge medical research institute and three commercial ventures which are now market-available. A key achievement has been the invention and commercialisation of Portable and Rapid Semiconductor Genome Sequencing, which has since become a multi-billion dollar industry. This new technology allows DNA to be analysed within minutes and outside of a laboratory.
Achievement Award winner Keith Hayler has been heavily involved in the UK and global broadcast engineering industry since the 1970s. He has contributed to the design and deployment of the world’s first digital radio and television platforms; including Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) and Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) and his work in this field has included helping to establish the specification, design and deployment of the world’s first digital radio and television platforms.
Achievement Award winner Alexander Bennett started working for the Naval ships division of BAE Systems three years ago, having gained a First Class Honours degree at university and an IET Prize for Outstanding Academic Achievement. Now, aged just 29 years old, he is already in charge of the engineering and design teams across many locations in Scotland and England and responsible for delivering a £350 million project for the business.
William Webb, IET President said: “The Institution of Engineering and Technology Achievement Awards recognise individuals who have made a truly outstanding contribution to engineering and technology, from talented young professionals through to engineers at the pinnacle of their careers.
“The IET is passionate about promoting engineering excellence and the Achievement Awards showcase some of the world’s best engineering talent. The winners should be extremely proud of their achievements.”
The winners, who were nominated by their peers and selected by a panel of IET judges, are leading engineers and technicians, who will now be invited to collect their awards at a prestigious awards ceremony on 19 November.