Meet our 50for50 engineers
To celebrate our 50th anniversary in 2026, we have commissioned a new series of photographs featuring a selection of our Fellows – the UK’s leading engineers - by photojournalist Jude Vidal.
The images showcase 50 people whose innovation has helped to tackle some of humanity’s greatest challenges. From radar and telecommunications breakthroughs to cutting-edge AI, wind turbines, and satellites, these engineers have shaped – and continue to shape – our modern world.
Jude’s new photos feature Fellows elected in every decade of the Academy’s history, from all across the UK. The intimate portraits capture the people behind the breakthroughs – in their homes, labs, offices, workshops, and out in nature. From senior figures in industry and academia, to a new generation of entrepreneurs and problem-solvers, the photos offer a glimpse of what makes our Fellowship so special.
Explore the photos, and the stories of the people behind them, in the gallery below. The profiles can also found in a special issue of The Engineer, published to celebrate the Academy’s 50th anniversary milestone.
Professor Cyril Hilsum CBE FREng FRS
Pioneer in LCD technology, Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow elected in 1978
Dr Agnes Kaposi MBE FREng
Former Emeritus Professor in Electrical Engineering, London South Bank University
Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Julia King DBE FREng FRS FMedSci
Select Committee on Science and Technology Chair, Carbon Trust and the Henry Royce Institute incumbent chair
Professor Dame Wendy Hall DBE FREng FRS
Regius Professor of Computer Science, University of Southampton
Professor Richard Dawson FREng
Professor in Earth Systems Engineering and Director of Research and Innovation, School of Engineering, Newcastle University
Rt Hon Chris McDonald FREng
Minister for Industry in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
Professor Tim Denison FREng
Professor of Engineering Science and Clinical Neurosciences at the Medical Research Council (MRC)
Professor Dame Polina Bayvel DBE FREng FRS
Professor of Optical Communications & Networks, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University College London
Professor Norman Apsley OBE FREng
Founding Chief Executive of The Northern Ireland Science Park, Catalyst
Professor Eileen Harkin-Jones OBE FREng
Royal Academy of Engineering-Bombardier Chair in Composites Engineering at Ulster University
Professor Sir Bashir Al-Hashimi CBE FREng FRS
Vice President for Research & Innovation at King's College London, Co-Director of the King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence
I have focused on the human elements, and the real-world impact created by these truly inspirational engineers from all walks of life who are doing some of the most amazing things on this planet.
- Jude Vidal, photojournalist
Alex van Someren FREng
Former Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security and co-founder of ANT Software and nCipher
Professor Susan Gourvenec FREng
Professor of Offshore Geotechnical Engineering at the University of Southampton
Professor Luke Bisby FREng FRSE
Chair of Fire and Structures, Head of Research Institute for Infrastructure and Environment, University of Edinburgh
Professor Máire O’Neill FREng MRIA FIAE
Professor of Information Security at Queens University Belfast
Professor Alison Noble CBE FREng FRS
Technikos Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Oxford
Professor Dame Karen Holford DBE FREng FLSW
Chief Executive and Vice- Chancellor of Cranfield University
Dame Pratibha Gai DBE FREng FRS HonFRMS
Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry at University of York
Professor Washington Ochieng CBE FREng
Head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University College London
Professor Catherine Noakes OBE FREng
Professor of Environmental Engineering for Buildings, University of Leeds
All images © thisisjude.uk
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