Engineering news
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Contemporary engineers making their mark on the world are vying to take their place in Semta's engineering hall of fame alongside Isambard Kingdom Brunel, George Stephenson and Barnes Wallace.
The five shortlisted engineers, whose work has demonstrated outstanding innovation and had a positive impact on society, include Sir James Dyson and David Gow – a mechanical engineer who dedicated decades to developing pioneering prosthetics.
Semta's hall of fame hopes to ensure that great British engineers of the 21st century are recognised to be just as important and influential as their illustrious predecessors.
Ann Watson, chief operating officer of Semta, the employer-led body for engineering skills, said: “Britain’s engineers are still the best in the world – and we will be putting them on the world stage to take a bow alongside their illustrious predecessors.
“We are blowing away the myth that the best days of British engineering are behind us, ensuring that one of our five nominees achieves engineering ‘immortality’.
A British engineer will be added to the prestigious list each year.
The public is invited vote for the next resident of the hall of fame at
www.semta.org.uk from 13 January.
About the nominees:
David Gow
Gow, from Dumfries in Scotland, has dedicated decades to developing pioneering prosthetics. He and his team at Touch Bionics developed an electric shoulder and a partial hand system. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering and is a fellow of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. Gow received the MacRobert Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2008.
Sir James Dyson
Dyson is a serial inventor, creating devices that improve lives. He is best known for his bagless vacuum cleaner – which uses a cyclonic system that he devised having observed an air filtration unit in a factory.
Sam Etherington
Aged 23, Etherington is a designer at Blueprint Design Engineering in Cumbria. He created waves with his multi-axis wave converter, which is said to be more powerful and efficient than existing tidal energy systems. His innovation and commitment to renewable energy was recognised last year when he won a Sir James Dyson Award for his work.
Tim Morgan
Morgan has transformed thousands of lives thanks to his patented all-terrain wheelchair systems. Morgan, who appeared on Dragons’ Den, wanted everyone to be able to enjoy one of the loves of his life – the great outdoors. A first-class masters degree holder from Bath University, he continues to develop new methods for making more terrain accessible for all.
Jonathan Ive
Ive is at the creative core of Apple. The Essex-born engineer is senior vice president of design and was described by the late Steve Jobs as the “spiritual partner” of the organisation. Ive runs his own laboratory at Apple.
The first ten members of the engineering hall of fame are:
John Rennie (1761-1821)
George Stephenson (1781-1848)
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)
Joseph Bazalgette (1819-1891)
Sir Benjamin Baker (1840–1907)
Barnes Wallis (1887-1979)
Sir John Ambrose Fleming (1848–1945)
Dame Caroline Haslett (1895–1957)
Verena Holmes (1889–1964)
Sir Frank Whittle (1907–1996)