| Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering | |
| Awarded For: | Ground-breaking innovation in engineering which has been of global benefit to humanity |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Presenter: | The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation |
| Holder: | 6 prizes to 20 winners |
| Holder Label: | Winners |
The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, also known as the QEPrize, is a global prize for engineering and innovation. The prize was launched in 2012 by a cross-party group consisting of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Miliband, then Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition of the United Kingdom.[1] The £500,000 prize, and 3D printed trophy, are awarded annually in the name of Queen Elizabeth II (the prize was biennial until 2021).[2]
The prize is run by the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, a charitable company. The Foundation is chaired by Sir Patrick Vallance, with Yewande Akinola, John Hennessy, Anji Hunter, Robert Langer, Professor Sir Jim McDonald and Dame Anne Richards serving as trustees. 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 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering is awarded for engineering-led advances that are judged to be of tangible and widespread benefit to the public. The foundation invites nominations from the public, engineering and science academies, universities, research organisations, and commercial organisations from anywhere in the world; self-nomination is not permitted, and the prize is not awarded posthumously.[3]
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 following prize criteria:
The winner(s) of the QEPrize are announced every year 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. The QEPrize award ceremony takes place in the same year as the announcement. The QEPrize trophy is designed by the winner of the Create the Trophy competition, presented to the winner(s) by a member of the Royal Family. In the first two prize cycles, the trophy was presented by the Queen. In subsequent cycles, the trophy has been presented by the King, formally the Prince of Wales.
| Year | Invention | Recipient(s) | Nationality | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Internet and the World Wide Web | Robert Kahn |  United States | The inaugural prize was awarded to the five engineers responsible for the creation of 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:
On 25 June the winners received their award from Queen Elizabeth II in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace in front of an audience that included the leaders of the UK's three main political parties, QEPrize judges, and a number of young engineers. |
| Vinton Cerf | United States | |||
| Louis Pouzin |  France | |||
| Sir Tim Berners-Lee |  United Kingdom | |||
| Marc Andreessen | United States | |||
| 2015 | Controlled release large molecule drug delivery[4] | Robert Langer | United States | The 2015 prize was awarded to Robert Langer for his work in controlled-release large molecule drug delivery. The announcement was made by Lord Browne of Madingley in the presence of the Duke of York on 3 February. Langer, who made a speech at the announcement, said he was "proud and privileged to win the biggest engineering prize in the world". On 26 October, Langer received his award from Queen Elizabeth II[5] in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. |
| 2017 | Digital Imaging Sensors | George E. Smith | United States | The 2017 prize was awarded to the four engineers responsible for the creation of digital imaging sensors, an innovation that has facilitated advancements in medical treatments, science, communication, and entertainment. The announcement was made by Lord Browne of Madingley in the presence of the Princess Royal on 1 February.[6] The winners of the 2017 prize were:
On 6 December, the winners received their award from the Prince of Wales in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. |
| Michael Tompsett | United Kingdom | |||
| Nobukazu Teranishi |  Japan | |||
| Eric Fossum | United States | |||
| 2019 | Global Positioning System (GPS) | Bradford Parkinson | United States | The 2019 prize was awarded to the four engineers responsible for the development of the first truly global, satellite-based positioning system (GPS),[7] whose combined efforts have enabled free, immediate access to accurate position and timing information for over 4 billion people around the world. Its applications range from navigation and disaster relief to climate monitoring and banking systems. The announcement was made by Lord Browne of Madingley in the presence of the Princess Royal on 12 February. The winners of the 2019 prize winners were:
On 3 December, the winners received their award from the Prince of Wales in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace. |
| James Spilker, Jr | United States | |||
| Hugo FrueHauf | United States | |||
| Richard Schwartz | United States | |||
| 2021 | LED Lighting | Nick Holonyak | United States | The 2021 prize was awarded to the five engineers responsible for the development of LED lighting – which forms the basis of all solid state lighting technology and is 75% more energy efficient than traditional bulbs, contributing to a global reduction of energy consumption. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement was made by Lord Browne of Madingley during a global livestream event. The winners of the 2021 prize were:
On 8 December, the winners received their award from the Prince of Wales in a ceremony St James's Palace.[10] |
| Isamu Akasaki | Japan | |||
| M. George Craford | United States | |||
| Shuji Nakamura | United States | |||
| Russell Dupuis | United States | |||
| 2022 | Neodymium-iron-boron magnet | Masato Sagawa | Japan | The 2022 prize was awarded to Masato Sagawa for the discovery, development and global commercialisation of the world's most powerful permanent magnet, the neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) magnet, which has been transformational in its contribution towards enabling cleaner, energy saving technologies.[11] |
| 2023 | Passivated emitter rear contact (PERC) solar cells | Martin Green |  Australia | The 2023 prize was awarded to the four engineers responsible for the invention and development of Passivated Emitter and Rear Cell (PERC) solar photovoltaic technology,[12] which has underpinned recent exponential growth in high performance, low-cost solar electricity.
|
| Andrew Blakers | Australia | |||
| Aihua Wang |  China | |||
| Jianhua Zhao | China | |||
| 2024 | Modern wind power technology | Andrew Garrad CBE | United Kingdom | The 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering was awarded for... achievements in advancing the design, manufacture and deployment of high-performance wind turbines, allowing wind energy to make a substantial contribution to the world’s electricity generation. Over the last four decades, Garrad and Stiesdal have made groundbreaking engineering inputs, developing the early technology and maintaining their presence in leading positions as the industry has grown, enabling the world’s biggest rotating machines, which help drive progress towards a net-zero energy economy.[13] |
| Henrik Stiesdal |  Denmark |
In 2022, the judges for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering were: Professor Jim Al-Khalili, Dr John Anderson, Professor Brito Cruz, Dr Jean-Lou Chameau, Josephine Cheng, Abdigani Diriye, Alan Finkel, Professor Jinghai Li, Ilya Espino de Marotta, Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, Professor Tatsuya Okubo, Professor Viola Vogel, Paul Westbury, and Henry T. Yang.
The Chair of Judges include: Lord Alec Broers (2013–2015), Sir Christopher Snowden (2015–2021) and Professor Dame Lynn Gladden (2022–present).
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.
The QEPrize is a major funder of the Engineers' Gallery which opened in June 2023 in the Science Museum, London.[14] The gallery features all QEPrize winners arranged around the themes of Bodies, Lives, Communications and Creating.[15]
The QEPrize trophy is designed by the winner of the Create the Trophy competition which, like the prize itself, runs annually.[16] The competition is open to those aged between 14 and 24, and is intended to encourage young people to develop 3D design skills.[17] Entries are submitted online through an app.
2013: Jennifer Leggett, 17. Leggett was invited to spend the day with designer Thomas Heatherwick before the design was finalised.[18]
2015: Euan Fairholm, 20, a mechanical engineering student at The University of Glasgow. His design, "The Golden Crown", was developed into a final form by BAE Systems and presented to Dr Robert Langer, the winner of the 2015 QEPrize.[19]
2017: Samuel Bentley, 15, from Wales. His design was 3D printed by BAE Systems, and presented to the 2017 QEPrize winners at Buckingham Palace.[20]
2019: Jack Jiang, 16, from Hong Kong.[21]
2021: Hannah Goldsmith, 20, from the United Kingdom.[22]
2022: Anshika Agarwal, 17, from India.[23]
2023: Anja Brandl, from Switzerland.[24]