£1million engineering prize now open for nominations

The £1million award, announced by Prime Minister David Cameron last year, aims to encouraging innovation in the UK and raise the profile of engineering. The prize will be awarded to an individual or team of up to three people for a 'groundbreaking advance in engineering which has led to significant international public benefit'. As well as recognising and celebrating the best, the prize will provide an opportunity to demonstrate how engineers and engineering are making a real difference across the world. The Royal Academy of Engineering will deliver the accolade, which will be overseen by a charitable trust chaired by former BP chief executive Lord Browne. Leading engineering companies such as defence giant BAE Systems, oil producer Shell and drugs company GlaxoSmithKline are providing the funding. "Engineering underpins every aspect of our lives," commented Browne. "As the bridge between scientific discovery and commercial application, engineering feeds and clothes us and enables us to work, travel and communicate. "But too often the engineers behind the most brilliant innovations remain hidden. The Queen Elizabeth Prize aims to change that." Industry bodies are hoping the prize will inspire young people to study engineering and generate pioneering new ideas. Cameron said he hoped the award would carry the same stature as the Nobel Prizes. "High skilled, high value manufacturing and engineering should be a central part of our long term future," he said. "I hope this prize will go some way to inspire and excite young people about engineering, so they dream of becoming engineers as they once did in the age of Stephenson and Brunel." A message of support from HM The Queen read: "Over the past 60 years, I have had the privilege of seeing how engineering developments can make a profound impact on people's lives. I am delighted to lend my support to this prize and I hope that it inspires many more people across the globe to develop life changing engineering creations in the years to come." The confirmed judging panel is as follows: Prof Frances Arnold, chemical engineer, professor at Caltech, USA Lord Alec Broers, FREng Hon FMedSci FRS (Chair), electrical engineer. past president, Royal Academy of Engineering, UK Prof Brian Cox, OBE, particle physicist. Royal Society Research Fellow, University of Manchester, UK Prof Lynn Gladden, CBE FREng FRS chemical engineer. professor at University of Cambridge, UK Diane Greene, director of Intuit, director of Google, USA Prof Calestous Juma, HonFREng FRS, professor of International Development and Director of Science, Tech and Globalisation Project, Harvard University, USA Prof Hiroshi Komiyama, chemical engineer, president Engineering Academy of Japan Prof John Hennessy, electrical engineer. president, Stanford University, USA Prof. Dr. h.c. Reinhard Hüttl, president, acatech, Germany Nathan Mhyrvold, co-founder, Intellectual Ventures, USA Narayana Murthy, electronic engineer. founder, Infosys, India Prof Choon Fong Shih, mechanical engineer. president, King Abdullah, University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia Dr Charles Vest, FREng mechanical engineer. president, National Academy of Engineering, USA Paul Westbury, FREng, civil engineer. ceo, Buro Happold, UK For more information or to make a nomination, visit http://qeprize.org/.