Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering
| The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Description | Ground-breaking innovation in engineering which has been of global benefit to humanity. |
| Location | London |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Presented by | The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation |
| First awarded | 2013 |
| Website | qeprize |
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, also known as the QEPrize, is a global engineering prize that rewards and celebrates the engineers responsible for a ground-breaking innovation in engineering that has been of global benefit to humanity. The £1 million prize is awarded biennially in the name of Queen Elizabeth II.[1] The 2019 prize was announced on 12 February to Dr Bradford Parkinson, Professor James Spilker, Hugo Fruehauf, and Richard Schwartz for thecreation of the first truly global, satellite-based positioning system – (GPS).[2]
The prize was officially launched in November 2011 by a cross-party line up of the UK Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, and Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband. The inaugural prize was presented to the creators of the Internet, the browser and the World Wide Web in 2013.[3] The 2015 prize was awarded to Robert Langer for his work in controlled-release large molecule drug delivery.[4] The third prize was awarded on 1 February 2017 to Eric Fossum, George Smith, Nobukazu Teranishi, and Michael Tompsett for research on digital imaging sensors.[5]
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation
The QEPrize celebrates engineering as a discipline and career choice, shining light on the excitement and importance of engineering and inspiring young people to get involved in the subject. It is run by a charitable company, limited by guarantee, called the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation. The Foundation is chaired by Lord Browne of Madingley, whose fellow trustees are:
The QEPrize is funded by donations from the following international companies: BAE Systems, BP, GSK, Hitachi Ltd., Jaguar Land Rover, National Grid, Nissan Motor Corporation, Shell, Siemens UK, Sony, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel and Toshiba.
The day-to-day running of the QEPrize is carried out by a team based at the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Award process
Nominations
The prize rewards an outstanding engineering-led advance that has produced tangible, widespread public benefit, and is judged on broad criteria that includes the cultural impacts of the engineering. Nominations are encouraged from the public, engineering and science academies, universities, research organisations, and companies around the world. The only restriction is that self-nomination is not permitted, and that the prize not be awarded posthumously.[1] Nominations can be made via an online portal on the QEPrize website.
Selection
A search group composed of eminent engineers sifts and develops the nominations before the judging process begins.[6]
The judging panel works from the information provided in the nomination, comments from referees and any additional information required in order to establish which nomination most fully meets the prize criteria. The panel uses the following criteria to select the winning nominations:
- What is it that this person has done (or up to five people have done) that is a ground-breaking innovation in engineering?
- In what way has this innovation been of global benefit to humanity?
- Is there anyone else who might claim to have had a pivotal role in this development?
Announcement
The winner(s) of the QEPrize are announced every two years by the Chairman of the QEPrize Foundation. In the first four prize cycles, this announcement was held at the Royal Academy of Engineering and was attended by members of the British Royal Family.
Awards Ceremony
The QEPrize awards ceremony takes place in the same year as the announcement. The QEPrize trophy, designed by the winner of the Create the Trophy competition, is presented to the QEPrize winner(s) by a member of the Royal Family. In the first two prize cycles, the trophy was presented by Her Majesty The Queen. The third trophy was presented by HRH The Prince of Wales.
Winners
-
CCD inventor:
George Smith -
Molecule drug delivery: Robert Langer -
WWW creator: Tim Berners-Lee -
"Father of GPS": Dr Bradford Parkinson
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2019
It was announced on 12 February that the 2019 prize would be awarded to the four engineers responsible for the development of the first truly global, satellite-based positioning system – (GPS).[2]
The 2019 prize winners were:
- Dr Bradford Parkinson (US) for leading the development, design, and testing of key GPS components.
- Professor James Spilker, Jr (US) for developing the L-bandGPS civil signal structure using CDMA.
- Hugo FreuHauf (US) for his instrumental role creating highly accurate miniaturised atomic clock using a Rubidium Oscillator.
- Richard Schwartz (US) for leading the design and development of the highly robust, long-lasting Block I satellites.
Their combined efforts have enabled free, immediate access to accurate position and timing information for over 4 billion people around the world. Its myriad applications range from navigation and disaster relief through to climate monitoring systems, banking systems, and the foundation of tomorrow’s transport, agriculture, and industry.
The announcement was made by Lord Browne of Madingley in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal. The winners will receive their award in a ceremony later this year.
2017
On 1 February it was announced that the 2017 prize would be awarded to the four engineers responsible for the creation of digital imaging sensors. The announcement was made by Lord Browne of Madingley in the presence of HRH The Princess Royal.[8]
The winners of the 2017 prize were:
- George E. Smith (US) for the invention of the charge-coupled device (CCD) principle
- Michael Tompsett (UK) for the development of the CCD image sensor, including the invention of the imaging semiconductor circuit and the analogue-to-digital converter
- Nobukazu Teranishi (Japan) for the creation of the pinned photodiode (PPD)
- Eric Fossum (US) for developing the CMOS image sensor
Together, their innovations allowed for advancements in medical treatments, science, personal communications, and entertainment. The winners received their award in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace later that year.
2015
| External videos | |
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 Hundreds of millions of people a year across the world benefit from the technologies that rest on the work of Robert Langer., Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering 2015 |
The 2015 prize was awarded to Robert Langer for his work in controlled-release large molecule drug delivery.[9][10] The announcement was made by Lord Browne of Madingley in the presence of HRH The Duke of York on 3 February. Dr Langer, who made a speech at the announcement, said he was “proud and privileged to win the biggest engineering prize in the world”.
2013
The inaugural prize was awarded to a team of five engineers who created the Internet and the World Wide Web. The announcement was made by Lord Browne of Madingley in the presence of Princess Anne on 18 March. The winners of the 2013 prize were:
- Robert Kahn (US), Vinton Cerf (US), and Louis Pouzin (France) for their contributions to the protocols that make up the fundamental architecture of the Internet,
- Tim Berners-Lee (UK) for the creation of the World Wide Web, and
- Marc Andreessen (United States) for the Mosaic web browser.
On Tuesday 25 June the winners received their award from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in front of an audience that included the three leaders of the UK’s main political parties, QEPrize judges, and a number of young engineers at Buckingham Palace. On the same day, the Lord Mayor of London hosted a lunch at Guildhall in honour of the winners which was attended by Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice.
Judging Panel
Key
- Chair of Judges
- Judge
| Judge | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Madam Deng Nan | ||||
| Diane Greene | ||||
| Dr Nathan Myhrvold | ||||
| Dr Chen Jining | ||||
| Lord Alec Broers | ||||
| Professor Frances Arnold | ||||
| Professor Brian Cox | ||||
| Professor John L. Hennessy | ||||
| Professor Calestous Juma | ||||
| Professor Hiroshi Komiyama | ||||
| Narayana Murthy | ||||
| Professor Choon Fong Shih | ||||
| Professor Lynn Gladden | ||||
| Professor Reinhard Huettl | ||||
| Dr Dan Mote | ||||
| Paul Westbury | ||||
| Sir Christopher Snowden | ||||
| Professor Viola Vogel | ||||
| Dr Jean-Lou Chameau | ||||
| Professor Brito Cruz | ||||
| Dr Henry Yang | ||||
| Jinghai Li | ||||
| Dr Raghunath Mashelkar | ||||
| Ilya Marotta | ||||
| Jim Al-Khalili | ||||
QEPrize Ambassador Network
The QEPrize Ambassador Network is an international network that brings together the best and brightest early-career engineers from all fields around the world, who work to inspire the next generation to take up the challenges of the future.QEPrize ambassadors act as evangelists for engineering, engaging with teachers, parents, school children, politicians, and journalists about their work and why engineering is such an important profession.
The Ambassador Network became a global community in 2016.
Create the Trophy competition
The unique designs for the QEPrize trophy are found through the ‘Create the Trophy’ competition which, like the prize itself, runs every two years.[7] The competition, open to those aged between 14 and 24, gives young people the opportunity to get involved – testing their design skills using the latest in 3D-design technology. Since 2017, the competition is open to entrants worldwide. Entries are submitted online through a free app, QEPrize3D, which is available to download on Android and iOS devices.
2019
The winner of the 2019 Create the Trophy competition was Jack Jiang, 16, from Hong Kong. Jack’s innovative design combines the traditional trophy form with elements from modern wind turbines; this can be seen from a top-down view.[2] The trophy will be 3D printed and presented to the 2019 QEPrize winners at an event later this year.
2017
The winner of the 2017 Create the Trophy competition was Samuel Bentley, 15, from Wales, whose design was inspired by the highest Welsh peak, Snowdon. It will be 3D printed by BAE Systems and presented to the 2017 QEPrize winners at Buckingham Palace later in 2017.[8]
For the first time, entrants to the Create the Trophy competition in 2017 used the QEPrize 3D Design Studio mobile app to design their trophies.[7] The competition was also opened up to a global audience, and received entries from 32 countries worldwide.[9]
2015
The winner of the 2017 Create the Trophy competition was Samuel Bentley, 15, from Wales, whose design was inspired by the highest Welsh peak, Snowdon. It was 3D printed by BAE Systems and presented to the 2017 QEPrize winners at Buckingham Palace.
2013
The inaugural Create the Trophy competition was won by 17-year-old student, Jennifer Leggett. The national competition called for students to come up with a design capturing the essence of modern engineering.
Jennifer Leggett's tree-like trophy design symbolises the growth of engineering and represents the way in which all areas of engineering are interlinked. After winning the competition Jennifer Leggett was invited to spend the day with designer Thomas Heatherwick before the design was finalised.
The 2013 trophy was constructed out of a 3D printed resin that has been dipped in Nickel alloy. The tree-like trophy has some polished and some brushed modules, while the base is sintered aluminium.
Entries to the 2013 competition were submitted through an online design website.
Create the Trophy Judging Panel
- Chair of Judges
- Judge
| Judge | 2013 | 2015 | 2017 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yewande Akinola | ||||
| Dame Zaha Hadid | ||||
| Sir Nicholas Serota | ||||
| John Sorrell | ||||
| Deyan Sudjic | ||||
| David Rowan | ||||
| Mark Miodownik | ||||
| Ian Blatchford | ||||
| Roma Agrawal | ||||
| Rebeca Ramos | ||||
| Zoe Laughlin | ||||
QEPrize 3D Design Studio
2017 marked the first time that the Create the Trophy competition ran internationally. It also marked the launch of the QEPrize 3D Design Studio (QEPrize3D), a bespoke app available for free download on iOS and Android devices.
The QEPrize 3D design studio is a 3D modelling tool, with a palate of 14 unique shapes and 5 different materials to choose from.
Inside the studio, designers can add to, subtract from, rotate, tilt, and zoom into their creations at the touch of a finger. Once the design is complete, trophies can be exported to the device’s photo gallery or shared directly to social media. An additional feature allows users to export the design as a 3D print-ready .OBJ file.
References
- ^ a b "QEPrize home page". The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- ^ a b c "Press page". Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ "2013 QEPrize Winners". Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ "2015 QEPrize Winner". Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ "2017 QEPrize Winners". Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
- ^ "Search Group - Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering". Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
- ^ a b "Create the Trophy Competition - Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering". Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
- ^ "Introducing the 2017 QEPrize trophy - Create the Future". Create the Future. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
- ^ "Introducing the 2017 QEPrize trophy - Create the Future". Create the Future. 23 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.