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With engineering and technology predicted to grow faster than any other sector between now and 2030, it is imperative the new government works with industry to address barriers standing in the way of young people joining the workforce. The skills shortage in engineering and technology is already limiting growth. A strategic approach to addressing the problem will support current projects and power large scale developments such as Great British Energy. 

EngineeringUK, along with the National Engineering Policy Centre, are keen to see a National Engineering and Technology Workforce Strategy. We therefore look forward to the new government acting on its manifesto commitments to develop workforce and training plans and a post-16 education strategy and ensure that more young people gain access to apprenticeships and other training opportunities.   

The Labour manifesto also pledged to tackle careers education, promising to recruit an extra thousand careers advisers, develop a broader curriculum, and address STEM teacher recruitment and retention. With severe and growing STEM teacher shortages – just over 1,600 vacancies compared to around 1,300 a year ago – EngineeringUK is urging the government to commit to investing in teacher professional development, which research shows is not just a ‘nice to have’ but can significantly prolong teaching careers.  

EngineeringUK Chief Executive, Hilary Leevers commented, “As the new government has rightly recognised, we need to nurture a greater pool of talent in engineering and technology including more apprenticeship opportunities for young people, to meet current demand and to help our economy to thrive and to achieve our net zero goal.  

“We have been asking for a national engineering and technology workforce strategy for some time to streamline coherent action and replace the current approach of different areas developing their own solutions in isolation, and sometimes, effectively, in competition.   

“In order to address skills shortages in the future, the workforce strategy needs to link to a comprehensive education and skills plan underpinned by enhanced careers advice in schools and an urgent solution to current STEM teacher shortages.  We will be doing what we can to support the new government in taking action to turbo charge the sector.” 

Find out more about EngineeringUK policy priorities for the new government. 

Several Engineering Council registrants and their engineering peers have been acknowledged in the 2024 Birthday Honours List. The UK Honours system pays tribute to individuals who have demonstrated exceptional achievements and service. This year’s King’s Birthday Honours List features several registrants who have made significant contributions across various engineering fields and specialisms in the UK.

Attaining professional registration as Chartered Engineers (CEng), Incorporated Engineers (IEng), or Engineering Technicians (EngTech) signifies a commitment to meeting globally recognised standards of competence. This includes a personal dedication to upholding professional standards and fulfilling responsibilities to society, the engineering community, and environmental stewardship.

In particular, the Chair, trustees and staff of the Engineering Council would like to congratulate Professor Peter Moir Guthrie, Vice President and Trustee at the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), on being awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE). This was in recognition of his services to Engineering.

The Engineering Council extends its heartfelt congratulations to all the registrants honoured this year:

Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (DBE)

• Professor Karen Holford DBE BEng (Hons) CEng FIMechE FWES FREng FLSW

Chief Executive and Vice Chancellor, Cranfield University. For services to Engineering.

• Dervilla Mitchell DBE BE CEng MICE
  Deputy Chair, Arup Group. For services to Engineering.

Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)

• Professor  P. John Clarkson CBE CEng FIED FIET FREng
  Director, Cambridge Engineering Design Centre and Co-Director, Cambridge Public Health, University of Cambridge. For services to Engineering and Design.
• Paul Howarth CBE CEng FREng MNucI
  Chief Executive Officer, National Nuclear Laboratory. For services to the Energy Sector.
• Professor Washington Yotto Ochieng CBE PhD MSc CEng FICE FRIN FInstCES FREng FCIHT

Head, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Chair Professor in Positioning and Navigation Systems, Imperial College London. For services to Global Positioning and Navigation Systems.

• Professor Ian White CBE DL CEng FIET FREng
  Vice-Chancellor and President, University of Bath. For services to Higher Education and to Engineering.

Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

• Professor Peter Guthrie OBE MSc BSc CEng FICE FREng
  Vice President and Trustee, Royal Academy of Engineering. For services to Engineering.
• Professor Richard Wakeford OBE BSc CEng MNucI
  Professor of Epidemiology, Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health, University of Manchester. For services to the Advancement of the Science of Radiation Protection.

Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)

• Clara Bagenal George MBE CEng MCIBSE
  Founder, Low Energy Transformation Initiative. For services to the Built Environment and to Climate Change.
• Professor Clive Buckberry MBE BSc CEng FInstP FREng WCoE
  Co-Founder and Engineering Fellow, Quanta Dialysis Technologies. For services to Medical Engineering.
• Professor David Jones MBE BSc BA CEng FREng FIMMM
  Professor, Pharmaceutical and Biomaterial Engineering and lately Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Queen’s University Belfast. For services to Education and to Pharmacy.
• Mark Jones MBE CEng MIChem
  Chief Executive Officer, Gower College Swansea. For services to Education.
• Dr Lucy Rogers MBE CEng FIMechE FREng
  Freelance Engineer and Author. For services to Engineering.
• William Young MBE CEng MICE
  Project Manager, South West College, County Tyrone. For services to Civil Engineering Education.

Medallist of the Order of the British Empire (BEM)

• Kirsteen MacDonald BEM CEng MIET
  Technical Through Life Support Lead, Air Domain, Defence Equipment and Support. For services to Defence and to Hearing Impaired Personnel.

The King’s Birthday Honours List 2024 can be found on the Government’s website.

The Engineering Council extends its congratulations to the registrants who are among the winners of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) annual Top 50 Women in Engineering awards (WE50), announced on International Women in Engineering Day (INWED).

This year’s theme, Enhanced by Engineering celebrates the inspiring women who have significantly influenced technology, sustainability, and society. It also highlights how engineering improves our lives and underscores the vital role of diversity in driving innovation.

By achieving professional registration, these engineers have demonstrated their competence and commitment to internationally recognised standards. This includes a dedication to professional standards, ethical practice, and recognising their obligations to society, the profession, and the environment.

Congratulations to all those featured on the Top 50 Women in Engineering list, including the following registrants:

• Dr Chika Judith Abolle-Okoyeagu PhD CEng MIMechE SFHEA – Head of Department – Robert Gordon University
• Carolyn Ainsworth CEng FIET – Deputy Director Engineering – National Cyber Security Centre
• Nike Amiaka CEng FIChemE TechIOSH – Technical Professional Leader – Safety (Consultant) – Kellogg Brown & Root
• Maira Bana MEng CEng MIMechE – CFD Manager – RED Engineering Design
• Helen Alexandra Elizabeth Davis MEng CEng MICE – Engineering Manager and Lead Supervising Civil Engineer – Binnies
• Professor Judith Driscoll PhD BSc (Eng) CEng FIMMM FREng – Professor – University of Cambridge
• Ghada Elsheikh MSc BSc CEng MIET CDCDP – Associate – HDR Inc.
• Catherine Gruber CEng MIMechE – Principal Mechanical Engineer – Mott MacDonald
• Dr Abigail Hathway MEng CEng MCIBSE – Senior Lecturer – University of Sheffield
• Emma Elizabeth Hellawell CEng MICE – Principal Engineer – LEAP Environmental
• Charlotte Higgins BEng CEng MIET – Associate Director – Arup
• Hiba Akbar Khan PhD MEng CEng MICE – Civil Engineer – Mott MacDonald
• Alexandra Koutsouki DIC CEng MICE – Senior Bridge Engineer – Arup
• Dr Paula Palade PhD CEng MIET – AI Ethics Senior Technical Specialist – Jaguar Land Rover
• Misha Patel MEng CEng MIMechE – DPhil Student – University of Oxford
• Helen Rowe MEng (Hons) CEng MICE MCIOB – Structures and Tunnels Asset Manager – Kent County Council
• Barbara Sacha MSc CEng MCIBSE – Partner – Cundall
• Victoria Sharpe MEng CEng MIMechE – Managing Director – Exstent Limited
• Melanie Thrush MSc BEng CEng MCIWEM C.WEM – Principal Geoenvironmental Engineer – Arup
• Emily Walport MEng CEng MIMMM – Materials Engineer – Arup
• Claire Watson MEng CEng MCIWEM C.WEM MICE – Water Utilities Delivery Director – Binnies
• Seren White MEng CEng MIMechE – Senior Project Engineer – NP Aerospace

The full Top 50 Women in Engineering, Enhanced By Engineering list is available on the WES website.

An inspiring student has beaten hundreds to clinch the coveted title of UK Young Engineer of the Year in this year’s Big Bang Competition and a group of teens from Liverpool have been crowned as the first UK Young Technologists of the Year.

Cardiff student, Pacha Pritchard, who is in Year 12 at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bro Edern School, was awarded the UK Young Engineer of the Year for her impressive portable pollution monitor designed to test air quality in schools and residential areas, reading local air pollution data and features emojis (happy and unhappy faces) to show if the pollution is good or bad.  After receiving her Award, Pacha commented, “I’m a bit shell shocked, I think I’m going to cry but I’m incredibly happy. My project is to help raise awareness of eco issues to younger people.”

Conservationist and TV presenter Megan McCubbin crowned the engineer and technology superstars at The Big Bang Fair at the NEC, Birmingham on 19 June.

Pacha added, “I’m a massive advocate for promoting STEM to girls and getting all the opportunities out there, like the Big Bang Fair and Competition. STEM is the future and women are part of that future.”

She hopes to have a career in environmental engineering and sustainable legislation.

The Big Bang Junior Engineering Award went to St Aidan’s High School in Lanarkshire, Scotland for their project, a ‘Theme Park for the future’ using kinetic, solar and wind power.

Students Genevieve Brennan, Jamie McShane, Kevin McGuigan, Naimh Clarke, Rosa Hodge and Sam Brown impressed judges with their project to come up with ways to make a theme park more sustainable. They researched different eco-policies of British theme parks and found that not many of them had ambitious enough targets.

The students explained, “We planned, designed and modelled rollercoasters that used renewable and sustainable energy sources. Our 3 main ideas were to use wind, solar and kinetic energy produced by park visitors. We also considered ways to minimise the park’s carbon footprint, for example, by looking into locally produced food for park goers”.

Judges were impressed with their research findings and working 3D printed model and commented: “Wow! This was a really interesting project. You clearly worked well as a team and identified key roles you could all undertake. It was also great to see your tests and designs come to life through your models, sketches and proposals. We have been impressed by the level of research you have done in the different areas from the waste, renewable energy and the weather forecast to show the viability of the site!”

And The Big Bang Intermediate Engineering Award winner was Year 11 student Keon Robert, from Queen Elizabeth School in Barnet, for his project, ‘Green Pot, growing the future’. Keon’s design consists of a trough base, a dripline feature for automatic irrigation and LED lighting and uses hydroponic technique (using water instead of soil) to grow plants.

This year, a new technology stream, supported by Siemens, was introduced. The Big Bang UK Young Technologists of the Year was won by a group of 6 teenage boys from Liverpool’s The Blue Coat School for their impressive solar panels project.

Archit Chinnari, Ayush Shah, Benedict Dooley, Ciaran Scanlan, Rakesh Vaddepalli and William Dan, all Year 12 from the school in Wavertree, Liverpool, hit on the idea when one of them was having solar panels fitted to their home, and he wondered why the panels were static and didn’t move to follow the sun.

The winning design, which uses an app to automate the panels, creates 16% more energy over a year than static models. The students believe their design ‘could have a massive impact’ on green energy.

One of the students commented, “We had a solid idea. Our teacher provided us with initial advice, but it’s been our own work. Resilience was needed as we came across multiple hurdles, but we worked well as a team, using our unique set of skills, with 3 of us working on the software and 3 of us focusing on the hardware. Converting analogue to digital took a lot of dedication.”

Three Year 7 students from Olchfa School in Swansea scooped the Big Bang Junior Technology Award for their fast fashion project, entitled, ‘Remake the waste.’ The students created a Remake the waste website that promotes sustainable fashion through tutorials remaking old clothes with the goal of hoping to reduce waste and pollution.

Elisa Marsh-Lorenzo, Lorna Skippen and Rafaella Fasham, explained, “Together, we are working to raise awareness about the impact of fast fashion on the environment and mental health of those who work in the factory landfills.”

The Big Bang Competition Intermediate Technology Award was won by Akhilesh Karthikeyan, a Year 11 student at Queen Elizabeth School in Barnet, for his smart food storage idea. He conducted interviews with environmental health officers at his local authority as well as a local shopkeeper before embarking on his project.

He explained, “The product encourages customers in retail environments to purchase food close to expiry, to reduce the amount thrown out and wasted. The container stores produce and then constantly monitors temperature to adjust a prediction for the time the produce will expire.”

The Big Bang Senior Technology Award went to a group of 4 London students in Year 13 from King’s College London Maths School for their accessible chess design, entitled, ‘AutoMate – the chess board for everyone.’

The AutoMate design aims to create an accessible platform with integrated mechatronic systems, allowing users to play without touching the pieces, inputting moves through inclusive technologies including eye-gaze-tracking and voice commands.

The UK Young Engineer of the Year and UK Young Technology of the Year Awards are the top engineering and technology awards in The Big Bang Competition, a nationwide competition for young engineers, scientists and technologists.

The Big Bang Fair is UK’s largest celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) for young people held at Birmingham’s NEC over 19 June to 21 June. Run by EngineeringUK, The Fair is supported by organisations across the education and STEM sector including Rolls-Royce, Jaguar Land Rover, and new supporters Accenture, Zoolab, JCB, Johnson & Johnson and easyJet.

Dr Hilary Leevers, EngineeringUK Chief Executive said: “Huge congratulations to all of our incredible engineering and technology award winners. I know you will all be great advocates for STEM. Well done!” 

To find out more and discover all the winners of The Big Bang Competition 2024 visit: www.thebigbang.org.uk/competition-winners

New workforce data released today by EngineeringUK reveals the proportion of women working in engineering and technology roles has declined in the past year from 16.5% to 15.7%. In contrast, women make up more than half of the rest of the UK workforce (56.1%).

Further analysis shows the drop is concentrated among women aged 35 to 44. The finding is consistent with registration data published by the Engineering Council which shows the average age of women leaving the profession is 43, in contrast to 60 for men.   

Analysis of the wider UK workforce does not show a similar drop or pattern of women leaving other professions.

It is hoped the data, published by EngineeringUK as part of its annual review of the engineering workforce, will serve as a wake-up call to engineering and technology companies to improve recruitment and retention practice.

EngineeringUK Chief Executive Hilary Leevers, commented, “We are taking this small but significant decline very seriously. Behind the percentages, are professional women with real lives and careers.  The sector as a whole needs to better understand why women are leaving and work harder to improve their retention, including creating opportunities for those who have left the profession to return. The various government skills taskforces must also ensure retention is core to the strategies they are working on.

She added, “Look, there are positives. In 2023 there were more women entering engineering and technology occupations in the 16 to 34 age groups. This indicates more women are entering the workforce straight from education and training. It’s important we drive forward on all fronts – inspiring and recruiting more young people into engineering and technology and then retaining their talent and experience too.

Each and every business leader should take this opportunity to sense check their own recruitment and retention practices and see how they can be improved. I’d encourage employers to look at the good practice out there and to approach organisations like WISE, WES , Equal Engineers and the Royal Academy of Engineering who can all support women and businesses with inclusion and equity in the profession.”

EngineeringUK highlights current good inclusion practice amongst some firms and hopes others, regardless of size, follow their lead.

Diversity and Inclusion Lead at global engineering firm AtkinsRéalis, Rebecca Crowther commented: “In 2022 AtkinsRéalis published its ‘Career Deflection Report’ which brought national attention to some of the issues faced by women who are leaving the engineering profession at twice the rate of men. The findings of the report informed and led change within AtkinsRéalis – including the introduction of flexible bank holidays, enhanced parental leave and targeted training for women at all levels of the organisation – and prompted debate across a sector which must take responsibility and commit to change.”  

Siemens also has a progressive recruitment policy to recruit and retain women and has pledged to see at least 30% of women in top management by the end of 2025.

Carl Ennis, CEO of Siemens in the UK and Ireland, commented: “Having a diverse engineering sector ensures that we are better equipped to address the world’s biggest problems. Major, complex challenges like sustainability requires a variety of minds, and lived experiences, contributing to solutions. It’s why improving gender balance, as one measure of diversity, is vital for the success of organisations across the board. It’s of course not a challenge that any business can resolve overnight but now more than ever, the sector needs to be accelerating efforts not resting on its laurels.”

More detail on the data:

• In 2022, women represented 16.5% of those working in engineering and technology roles dropping to 15.7% in 2023
• In 2022, there were 1,034,000 women working in engineering and technology occupations compared to 996,000 in 2023
• In 2023 there were more women in engineering and technology occupations between the ages of 16 to 34 – indicating that more women are entering the workforce straight from education, but are not being retained 
• Compared to 2022, there were fewer women working in engineering and technology between the ages of 35 and 64 years
• Women make up 56.1% of the workforce of all other occupations but just 15.7% in the engineering and technology workforce
• The decline of women in engineering and tech aged 35-64 is not seen in non-engineering and tech sectors, where retention levels have remained largely static.

For more information and to view the report visit www.engineeringuk.com/women

The Society for the Environment (SocEnv) recently held its annual awards ceremony to celebrate the achievements of the environmental professional community at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Burlington House on Tuesday 4th June.

More than 8,000 environmental professionals meet the required standards to highlight their environmental and sustainability expertise as a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv), Registered Environmental Practitioner (REnvP) or Registered Environmental Technician (REnvTech), but some warrant further recognition for going above and beyond and are commended via the SocEnv Awards. 

A record number of entries were judged this year, which is an incredible step forward and showcases the many outstanding environmental professionals working hard to protect, preserve or enhance the environment.

SocEnv is delighted to announce the highly deserving and exceptional awards winners of the prestigious 2024 SocEnv Awards. 

2024 Rising Star

Winner: Abigail Hancock CEnv (Head of Environment and Sustainability, Linbrooke Services Ltd), Chartered Environmentalist with IEMA

LinkedIn

2024 Environmental Professional of the Year

Runner up: Zebrina Hanly CEnv (Head of Environment and Climate Change, Royal Mail Group), Chartered Environmentalist with IEMA

LinkedIn

Winner: Adrian Mill CEnv (Managing Director, ESS (Environmental and Social Sustainability) + Lion Rouge), Chartered Environmentalist with the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES)

LinkedIn

Dr Emma Wilcox CEnv, SocEnv’s Chief Executive has said “With more than 8,000 registered environmental professionals around the world carrying out critical work, it’s always a pleasure to showcase extra special achievements with our awards each year. A huge congratulations to all those individuals honoured during this year’s awards and 20th anniversary event.”

As well as announcing the 2024 SocEnv Awards winners, the event also included two panel discussions on SocEnv’s 20^th anniversary and the 2024 World Environment Day theme.

 

New Honorary Fellow of the Society for the Environment

The newest Honorary Fellow (HonFSE) was presented to Martin Baxter CEnv, Deputy CEO at IEMA and a Chartered Environmentalist since 2004.

Martin works in the UK and internationally to support the transition to a low carbon, resource efficient and sustainable economy. He has worked in the sector for over 3 decades and has a wide breadth to his engagement and impact encompassing standards, government, industry, and the media. For all these reasons and more, Martin is a deserving recipient of the Honorary Fellowship.

 

20 years of SocEnv

During the event, SocEnv celebrated 20 years of the organisation and Chartered Environmentalist registration with a captivating discussion panel featuring Dr. Peter Matthews HonFSE CEnv, Professor Carolyn Roberts CEnv, Professor Will Pope HonFSE CEnv, and Dr. Emma Wilcox CEnv. These individuals have played pivotal roles in shaping SocEnv over the past two decades, providing valuable insights and reflections on our journey so far, while also sharing their thoughts on the future of SocEnv and the environmental profession.

 

A showcase of expertise

Focusing on this year’s World Environment Day theme of ‘Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience’, Dr. Katie Medcalf CEnv shared her expertise on the impacts of climate change in the Caribbean Island of Reunion, while Dr. Jane Rickson CEnv discussed HS2 plans for optimising soil profiles for grasslands, a case study in SocEnv’s recently published Soils and Stones progress report and its calls to action on soil health and reuse. The panel also included discussions on water and resilient cities with other leading experts Professor Ian Barker HonFSE CEnv and Will Arnold CEnv. This well-informed panel discussion left all delegates with much to consider.

 

How to catch up with the event 

The panel discussions and full awards event will be available to watch back on our YouTube in the coming days. Subscribe to not miss the launch – Society for the Environment – YouTube

The Engineering Council has contributed to a new set of policy priorities unveiled by the National Engineering Policy Centre (NEPC), led by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng).

In the document ‘Engineering a resilient and prosperous future: policy priorities for the next UK parliament’, the engineering profession is calling for the next government to be bold and take a holistic, long-term approach to tackling complex challenges and building sustainable economic growth, helping to improve people’s lives.

Engineering experts from 42 professional engineering organisations – together representing more than 700,000 engineers across the UK – outline the role of engineering in meeting the UK’s needs. Reversing persistently low economic growth is essential and cannot be done without fostering innovation, supporting small businesses, and investing in strategic sectors. This will enable the UK to tackle climate change, upgrade our ageing infrastructure and build warm and healthy homes.

As well as an ambitious approach to industrial strategy, the NEPC also calls on the new government to create a framework for sustainable economic growth by taking a systems approach to policy, including the commitment to net zero, delivering a National Engineering and Technology Workforce Strategy and futureproof UK infrastructure to deliver sustainable, resilient and healthy spaces.

President of the RAEng, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, said: “More than eight million people work in the UK’s engineering economy and the profession generates up to an estimated £645bn gross value added to the economy annually. For the UK to leverage that impressive engineering and technological strength, the new government needs to pursue a clear industrial strategy, underpinned by large-scale targeted support to key sectors, as many of our competitor nations have succeeded in doing. The choice is clear: we must create an environment that supports companies here, or they will go elsewhere.”

Engineering Council CEO, Paul Bailey, said: “Ethics, sustainability and acting in society’s best interests are already prominent features in the standards the Engineering Council has developed with the engineering profession. At a time when engineers have such a vital role to play in solving complex national and global problems, it has never been more important for us to uphold those standards and live up to the trust society places in engineering.”

To read the full NEPC document click here.

• Only 12% of girls say being an engineer fits well with who they are
• Just 16% of girls think an engineering career is suitable for them
• Opportunities for practical science are particularly important for less engaged students
• Only a quarter (26%) of GCSE students doing practical work at least every fortnight
• Interest in science has declined and a gender gap has opened up
• 36% of girls say science is not for them

A stark gender gap in young people’s interest in engineering and science and a sharp decline in practical science have been identified through a new survey by the Royal Society in partnership with EngineeringUK, with support from Wellcome.

The third Science Education Tracker (it was previously run in 2016 and 2019) included specific questions about engineering for the first time in this 2023 survey. The tracker looked at the responses of 7,000 young people around their attitudes to and experience of science education and careers. The results make worrying reading given current and projected future workforce shortages across engineering and technology.

Engineering careers are seen as creative and versatile by most school students and over half young people believe they could become an engineer if they wanted to. However, interest in engineering careers drops as students progress through school (55% of year 7 students compared to 39% of students in year 13). For those not interested in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) career, girls are more likely than boys to say this is because they don’t enjoy the subjects (57% vs 41%) and that they don’t feel they are good at them (38% vs 20%).

Across all age groups, boys report much higher knowledge of engineering careers than girls and are more likely to say engineering is something for them. Only 12% of girls say being an engineer fits well with who they are compared to 38% of boys. And just 16% of girls think a career in engineering is suitable for someone like them, this is up at 44% of boys.

Doing practical science is the key motivator to learning science (52% of year 7 to 9 students), with girls statistically more likely to say this. Yet, opportunities for hands-on practicals are in decline in school, with only 26% of GCSE students doing practical work at least once a fortnight. 70% of students across secondary schools say they want to do more and the appetite for more practical work is higher among students who are generally less engaged with science. This includes students who say they aren’t interested in science or who see science as ‘not for me’. 32% of young people in years 7 to 13 are in the ‘not for me’ group and this group is more likely to include girls. Indeed, 36% of girls say science is not for them.

Extra-curricular activities boost young people’s interest in continuing their STEM education. Half of students who visited a business said they were inspired to continue with STEM subjects and 45% of those who had a talk at school from someone working in STEM said the same. Yet just 43% of students had STEM extra-curricular activities in the previous year. STEM related work experience is also very low. 15% of young students had done a STEM related work experience, with a further 26% keen to do so but unable to secure a placement.

Dr Hilary Leevers, Chief Executive of EngineeringUK says: “We need hundreds of thousands more people entering STEM careers to get on track to meet net zero, to improve sustainability, and for the UK to prosper. The findings of the tracker are a serious wake-up call. We need to do more to keep young people interested in STEM as they progress through school and build their understanding of the opportunities available to them.

Government must work on ways to ensure the teaching of science, maths and computer science is more engaging for all students and builds confidence in the subjects, particularly for girls. We must also ensure that all students have careers experiences that highlight opportunities in areas like engineering, that are barely visible in the current curriculum.

The engineering community also needs to step-up and help young people see the range of opportunities for them in engineering and technology. We can inspire them and encourage them to continue with STEM. Where possible we should also be helping to offset the decline in practical lessons by offering hands-on activities.”

Professor Ulrike Tillmann FRS, chair of the Royal Society’s Education Committee, says: “The wonderful thing about science is that it has a practical side. It is not just in your head, you can touch and feel it – whether in the classroom or as part of everyday life. Access to effective hands-on learning that students can tangibly connect to the real world will help make science feel more relevant and meaningful and provide valuable skills for life and work.”

The Science Education Tracker report and further information is available at www.engineeringuk.com/set.

For full details of the awards go to www.ied.org.uk/awards.  Nominations for all five awards are welcomed.  If you have any questions please email ied@ied.org.uk.  

‘SUPPORT, INSPIRE, ACHIEVE’ AWARD receiving the Gerald Frewer Memorial Trophy

The Gerald Frewer Memorial Trophy is presented annually for outstanding contributions in the field of engineering design, design management, education and training or design philosophy. 

Please note: self-nominations ARE NOT allowed for this particular award.

THE HILLS MILLENNIUM AWARD

The Hills Millennium Award is presented annually by the Institution to an international designer who has made a major contribution to the professional areas of Engineering Design, and/or Product Design, which is in line with the aims of the IED. 

Please note: self-nominations ARE NOT allowed for this particular award.

PROMOTION OF DESIGN AWARD

The Promotion of Design Award was introduced in 2009 to award an individual or team for their work in promoting engineering design to a wider audience.

Please note: self-nominations ARE NOT allowed for this particular award.

THE ALEX MOULTON AWARD

The Alex Moulton Award is an award introduced to acknowledge innovation and inspirational design.  Council thought it only fitting that the award be named after Dr Alex Moulton, Honorary Fellow and designer of worldwide acclaim.

Please note: self-nominations ARE NOT allowed for this particular award.

Please send the name of the person/group/product to be nominated along with a summary as to why they have been nominated to ied@ied.org.uk. It would also be useful for you to include links to relevant websites/news articles. We also require contact details for the nominated person/group/designer of the product so that we can contact them to advise if they have been selected as the winner. 

THE GEOFF KIRK YOUNG MEMBERS AWARD

The Geoff Kirk Young Members Award was introduced in 2011 by Professor Geoff Kirk to mark his time as President of the Institution. The aim of the award is to recognise up and coming young members of the Institution, to highlight their career to date and to promote the future of engineering to the wider membership.

A nomination form is available for this award.  Please email ied@ied.org.uk if you would like a copy.

Please note: self-nominations ARE allowed for this particular award.

DEADLINE FOR RECEIPT OF NOMINATIONS – 7 APRIL 2024