The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) has today named the 12 winners of its prestigious 2015 Achievement Awards for services to engineering and technology.
Those honoured are some of the world’s top engineering and technology minds and talent, who have pioneered a range of engineering innovations from designing a suspension bridge over the Yangtze River, to ultrasound breakthroughs and coding developments which have changed the face of consumer electronics forever.
This year’s medal winners include:
- Professor Kees Schouhamer Immink, founder and president of Turing Machines Inc.
- Electrical engineer specialist Dr Asad Madni
- Renowned engineer Dr Alan Finkel
- Prolific bridge engineer, Dr Robin Sham
- Ultrasound expert, Professor David Hutchins
The IET Achievement Awards exist to recognise individuals from all over the world who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of engineering, technology and science in any sector, either through research and development in their respective technical field or through their leadership of an enterprise.
Faraday medal winner Professor Kees Schouhamer Immink, a prolific coding inventor, is also the founder of his own coding technology company, named after his predecessor in the field, Alan Turing.
On average, each Western household owns around 9.1 products which use his inventions – an incredible achievement which demonstrates his importance in the field of consumer electronics.
This year’s J J Thomson Medallist is Dr Asad Madni, Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, who has been honoured for his distinguished career, spanning four decades, which has produced seminal contributions to the development and commercialisation of “intelligent” sensors, systems, instrumentation and signal processing.
The recipient of the Mountbatten Medal this year, Dr Alan Finkel, has won the IET Mountbatten medal in recognition of his research in science and engineering; technical and academic leadership; entrepreneurship and philanthropy, and dedication to science and engineering education.
Achievement Award winner Dr Robin Sham has carved out an iconic career for himself as a talented and respected bridge engineer – who was most recently one of the brains behind Scotland’s Aberfeldy Bridge; the world’s first glass fibre reinforced composite cable-stayed bridge.
He was also a key innovator behind the world’s first long-span, three-pylon continuous suspension bridge, the Taizhou Bridge over the Yangtze in Eastern China.
Professor David Hutchins, also the winner of an Achievement medal, is a world-leading ultrasound academic.
The Manufacturer MX Awards 2015:
The innovative, the efficient and the all-round epitome of excellence in UK manufacturing will vie to be crowned the best in their field at The Manufacturer MX (TMMX) Awards 2015.
The winners will be crowned at The ICC, Birmingham on Thursday 26 November, where more than 1,000 industry leaders will come together for a night of reward, recognition and celebration.
You can view the complete shortlist here.
Secure your table at this year’s awards and join some of the biggest names in the industry at the largest networking night in the manufacturing calendar.
He has made his name in the industry through influential contributions to the application of innovative ultrasound technologies for industrial problems such as nuclear safety and the prevention of accidents in deep hard-rock mines, and non-destructive evaluation and instrumentation for a future Mars Lander.
IET President, Naomi Climer commented: “We are honoured to present these talented individuals with our top Achievement medals. They have each excelled in their professions, whether in a short period of time or in careers spanning decades; and have made a vast contribution to the advancement of our industry.
“It is our pleasure and privilege at the IET to be able to reward these individuals, as pioneers of important areas in the engineering and technology industries. They should all be very proud of their achievements – with each award being extremely well-deserved.”
The Achievement Awards are part of the IET’s Achievement Awards and Scholarships programme, which this year provided more than £1m in awards, prizes and scholarships to celebrate excellence and research in the sector and encourage the next generation of engineers and technicians.
