The MacRobert Award is regarded as the leading prize recognising UK innovation in
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
by corporations.
The winning team receives a gold medal and a cash sum of £50,000.
The annual award process begins with an invitation to companies to submit entries, by the end of January. The judging panel for the awards, which includes several Fellows of the
Royal Academy of Engineering, then selects a shortlist of six to eight candidates. Following site visits, the judges produce a shortlist of three or four candidates for visits by the whole judging panel.
The judges consider three key criteria when assessing entries:
* Innovation
* Commercial success
* Benefit to society
The guidance for submissions explains that "All three criteria may be interpreted broadly to reflect the very diverse nature of engineering and its role in every aspect of society".
In 2019, the 50th anniversary year of the awards, Royal Mail issued a series of postage stamps marking "the marvels of British engineering", with a new set of 10 stamps that featured, along with other engineering achievements, three past winners of the MacRobert Award.
History
The award is named in honour of
Rachel, Lady MacRobert
Rachel, Lady MacRobert, née Workman (23 March 1884 – 1 September 1954) was a geologist, cattle breeder and an active feminist. Born in Massachusetts to an influential family, she was educated in England and Scotland. She was elected to F ...
(1884–1954). It was established in 1969 by the MacRobert Trust. In 1979 the Royal Academy of Engineering took on the administration, supported by the
Worshipful Company of Engineers and industry sponsors.
The criteria for judging entries have changed over the years. The original remit was to reward “an outstanding contribution” made “by way of innovation in the fields of engineering or the other physical technologies or in the application of the physical sciences, which has enhanced or will enhance the national prestige and prosperity of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”. The first rule change was to include commercial success as a criterion. This was done to exclude entries that failed to have any lasting impact in the marketplace.
Winners
*2021 - DNA Nudge
See also
*
List of engineering awards
References
{{reflist, 30em
External links
The MacRobert Award - Royal Academy of EngineeringMacRobert Winners 1969-2015 - Royal Academy of EngineeringMacRobert Award 2005 winner and finalists, ''Ingenia'' Magazine June 2005
MacRobert Award 2006 winner and finalists, ''Ingenia'' Magazine June 2006
MacRobert Award 2007 winner and finalists, ''Ingenia'' Magazine June 2007
MacRobert Award 2008 winner and finalists, ''Ingenia'' Magazine June 2008
British science and technology awards
Awards of the Royal Academy of Engineering
Awards established in 1969