The history of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Having established its advisory role, the Fellowship started to promote engineering excellence in industry, an objective set by the new President, Viscount Caldecote KBE DSC DL FREng. A priority was to improve the links between industry and higher education, and the Fellowship launched its first industrial research fellowship scheme in 1982 supported by the Wolfson Foundation.

New links with the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) enabled the Fellowship to influence research strategies and to develop its own activities. In 1983, it took over SERC's International Visiting Fellowship scheme, which sent outstanding young engineers to work overseas for up to a year to broaden their experience.

Links with government and industry

Armed with these successes, the Fellowship asked the government to support its programmes, its interdisciplinary and growing international activities, and studies on national engineering issues. Government grant-in-aid began in 1984 with a modest £150,000 a year, which enabled an expansion in activities, including its advisory role. Fellows suggested looking at future technological issues and requirements. In 1985, this led to a study for the Department of the Environment on abatement technologies for treating acidic emissions.

The Fellowship now sought funding from industry and other sources and the increasing funding leverage and industrial support for its activities helped to facilitate a steady increase in grant-in-aid. The first substantial industrial funding came in 1984 with the Panasonic Trust, set up by Matsushita Electric to celebrate 10 years of successful operation in Britain.

Management and linguistic skills were clearly important if British engineers were to be as effective as possible in industry. The Fellowship began to address this field of management skills thanks to the vision of David (now Lord) Sainsbury. He approached the President in 1986 to develop a scheme to enable outstanding young engineering graduates to undertake MBA courses at European business schools. This was the start of the Engineering Education Continuum, a series of educational programmes from sixth form to postgraduate level, launched in 1990 with funding from the Gatsby Charitable Foundation and additional support from industry and training bodies.

Other initiatives

In 1988 a working party was set up on medical engineering, an activity that would later lead to the formation of the UK Focus for Biomedical Engineering. Draft guidelines for engineers on procedures for identifying and handling potentially hazardous situations were presented at a successful conference on ‘Warnings of preventable disasters’ in 1990.

The Fellowship aimed to promote best practice in the use of advanced technology in industry. However, it realised that technology had to be integrated into overall company strategy, from product development, through training and investment, to marketing. The result was the Management of Technology Initiative and a major report on this theme was published in 1991.

The Royal Academy and a move

From the very start of his presidency, Sir William Barlow FREng set out to raise the Fellowship's profile and enhance its influence. He used his past experience as Chair of the Post Office to engage key players in government, encouraging them to participate in Academy events. His style was exemplified by a Fellows' dinner at Guildhall in the City of London on 2 July 1992, held to celebrate the granting of a Royal title creating the Royal Academy of Engineering. This event was attended by the Senior and Royal Fellows, the President of the Board of Trade, ministers, senior civil servants, and representatives of the City, industry, academia and overseas academies.

Thanks to the success of an appeal in the early 1990s, the Academy was able to move in 1994 from its offices in Little Smith Street to more substantial accommodation at 29 Great Peter Street, Westminster.

Increasing influence

The Academy contributed fully to the consultations for the 1993 science White Paper, Realising our potential, successfully arguing that existing research funding arrangements through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the SERC should be replaced by a new research council, to better coordinate engineering-related research. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), was created in 1994. The Academy also emphasised that research strategies should support industry and wealth creation, objectives that were written into the mission statements of the new research councils. The Academy was a key advocate for and participated actively in the government's new Technology Foresight exercise from 1994.

A new activity, encouraged by Sir William, saw the Academy applying its expertise to current issues such as the safety of roll-on roll-off ferries. Another statement on the construction industry highlighted good practice in the manufacturing industry that could usefully be adapted to the construction environment.

The Academy's influence was also increasingly felt at European as well as national level and it played an instrumental role in setting up the European Council for Applied Sciences and Engineering (Euro-CASE) in 1992.

The number of personal Research Chairs and Senior Research Fellowships continued to expand. In 1996 the Academy co-sponsored with EPSRC a further series of Research Chairs in innovative manufacturing, which stemmed in part from the Academy's recommendation that industrial investment in long-term developmental research should be encouraged. There were also nine Clean Technology Research Fellowships, funded jointly with EPSRC.

Sir David's report, Automatic train protection for the rail network in Britain: a study, was published in 2000. He recommended that the UK start planning to introduce the most advanced form of automatic train protection (ATP) systems on high-speed lines but continue the current installation of the train protection and warning system (TPWS) in the interim. The situation was politically sensitive and this assessment was not received well by all parties, but the public inquiries later accepted that TPWS was necessary and called for an accelerated introduction of ATP.

In 1998, a series of Academy seminars called ‘R&D for industry’ brought together a high-level audience to debate how research should be conducted in a global economy. Chaired by Dr Robert Hawley FREng, the seminars raised the Academy's profile in the financial sector in particular. The Academy had also set up a new scheme to provide practical advice to small- and medium-sized companies on successful design practices. At the peak of its two-year run, the Partnership for Profitable Product Improvement (P3I) involved over 600 companies all over the UK.

Sir Eric Ash CBE FREng FRS chaired a joint study on UK energy policy with the Royal Society, resulting in the 1999 report Nuclear energy: the future climate, which highlighted the need for new nuclear power stations. It also called for research on carbon sequestration and the more promising types of renewable energy generation.

Identifying the skills gap

A 1997, an Academy report on engineering higher education, chaired by Dr John Forrest FREng, identified mounting evidence of a skills shortage in engineering and technology. It called for more students to take courses leading to status, the level at which companies were reporting serious recruiting problems but were nevertheless offering challenging, commercial engineering jobs. The quality of university engineering research also came in for scrutiny, with two reports published in 1999 comparing UK research with the rest of the world and looking at the way research funding is allocated to engineering projects. A new scheme was also set up to plug a perceived gap in funding for postdoctoral research fellows.

With 4,500 young people involved every year in schemes worth £3.5 million, the Engineering Education Continuum was due for a makeover and it was re-branded as the ‘Best’ programme: Better engineering, science, technology.

Engagement and education

A major milestone in the widening of participation was reached in September 2005 with the launch of the London Engineering Project in the London Boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth. This project, funded initially by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, was aimed at encouraging participation in engineering higher education from underrepresented groups, in particular women, people from families with no higher education experience, ethnic minorities, and adult learners. The programme proved highly successful and became an exemplar for a national engineering programme.

In 2005, the government asked the Academy to lead the Technology and Science in Schools Strategy. This led to the launch in November 2005 of the Shape the Future Campaign aimed at bringing coherence and coordination to science, engineering and technology schemes in schools. The campaign also focused on professional development for teachers to ensure they were aware of the latest developments in industry in order to better advise their students on career opportunities in engineering.

Policy and development

The Academy’s policy activities increased during this period with dozens of expert inputs to government and parliamentary bodies. It also published several important and influential reports, notably on the Future of engineering research, the Cost of generating electricity, the Challenges of complex IT projects, Energy and climate change, and Risks in engineering .

In October 2004, the Academy was delighted to receive an £8 million donation from the ERA Foundation. This allowed the Academy to introduce a range of new programmes including an engineering research prize and the ERA Foundation International Lecture.

Lord Broers initiated a number of major developments to strengthen the way in which the Academy was governed, including a new procedure for electing Council members.

The Academy also carried out a membership study to increase the number of nominations for Fellowship from underrepresented groups such as women, younger candidates, candidates from small- and medium-sized enterprises, and candidates from newly emerging industrial sectors.

Lord Browne of Madingley FREng FRS had been Group Chief Executive of BP plc for more than a decade. As Academy President, he made it his mission "to move engineering to the centre of society", identifying several grand challenges where an engineering contribution would be decisive: climate change and energy, poverty reduction, and the improvement of health and wellbeing.

Economy and leading the profession

The global financial crisis of 2007-08 generated a renewed appreciation of the importance of engineering in a rebalanced economy, which was evident during a year-long parliamentary inquiry into engineering. In its influential 2009 report, the Select Committee for Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills concluded that engineering had the potential to transform the UK economy and to support recovery from the global recession. It also recommended that future decisions on critical issues needed to have engineers at the heart of policymaking.

A key recommendation was that government engagement with engineering should begin with the Academy, which would coordinate and lead the efforts of the professional engineering community. The Academy hosted two significant initiatives working with the engineering profession. Education for Engineering (E4E) had real impact from the start, advising government on all aspects of engineering education. Engineering the Future aimed to make a unified contribution to engineering-related policy with several government-commissioned reports including Global water security, Infrastructure, Engineering and climate change adaptation, and Nuclear lessons learned.

Impact in education

Education activities expanded rapidly. While continuing to support high achievers at undergraduate and graduate levels, through activities such as the Engineering Leadership Awards, the aim broadened to one of inspiring young people from all backgrounds with the excitement of engineering. The Academy supported the creation of the new Technician Council, designed to elevate the status and recognition of technicians.

Two education reports by the Academy had significant impact. Educating engineers for the 21st Century (2007), led by Professor Julia King CBE FREng, considered the skills that professional engineers would need in the decades ahead. Graduate engineers for industry (2010), chaired by Professor Sir William Wakeham FREng, pointed to experience-led learning as the key aspiration for future engineering degrees.

Policy and engagement work, international activities

Policy studies continued to tackle complex issues, from privacy and surveillance, energy scenarios for 2050 and electric cars to the philosophy and ethics of engineering, which led to a profession-wide Statement of ethical principles. The Academy also investigated the potential risks and benefits of the emerging field of synthetic biology. This work would result in a series of joint symposia with the science and engineering academies of China, the US and the UK.

An ambitious new public affairs and communications programme went hand-in-hand with professional public engagement, aided by the Academy's new Ingenious grant scheme. The Academy took a leading role in the Cheltenham Science Festival and was, from its beginning in 2009, a strategic partner of the Big Bang Fair.

In 2010, the Africa–UK Engineering for Development Partnership was launched. This major enterprise brought together the engineering communities in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK in a consortium led by the Africa Engineers Forum, the Academy and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Another move, development

In 2007, the Academy moved to its current home at 3-4 Carlton House Terrace, becoming neighbours with the Royal Society and the British Academy. The building was later named Prince Philip House in honour of the Academy’s Senior Fellow.

Led by Sir John Parker GBE FREng, a development campaign was designed to promote the Academy as the Forum for Engineering and as a valuable partner for engineering industry. This attracted keen interest and substantial funds. By mid-2011 the Academy was ready to start major building works to transform its public facilities. The campaign also established an Education and Engagement Endowment Fund aimed at attracting more young people to engineering.

He was one of the first people to call for an industrial strategy along sectoral lines of high-growth technology-led businesses. The Academy worked with colleagues at the CBI and provided key input to the Heseltine Review of industrial competitiveness. Secretary of State for Business Vince Cable and Chancellor George Osborne saw the wisdom of the sectorial approach, which was central to Sir John's own vision, and the Industrial Growth Strategy was actively implemented across government and across sectors for several years.

Innovation

The Academy reflected these policy developments through its own activities, including an Innovation in... series of seminars, highlighting the significant innovation going on around the country in both academia and industry, from energy and aerospace to materials and automotive. The Academy launched the Enterprise Hub in 2013 to help and advise early-stage entrepreneurs, harnessing the expertise and insight of Academy Fellows with experience of starting and running new businesses.

Government started to promote innovation actively through initiatives like the Eight Great Technologies. The Presidents of the four UK national academies worked together effectively to drive forward common interests in innovation and research, notably with the Chancellor.

Dialogue with industry, government and other countries

International delegations to China helped to drive forward new partnerships with the Chinese Academy of Engineering on energy storage and synthetic biology. Sir John also presided over the groundbreaking Global Grand Challenges Summit, bringing together speakers from the US, UK and China to apply engineering thinking to the world's big challenges.

The drive to improve dialogue between industry, academia and government in recognising the importance of the professional engineer in wealth creation inspired a major new Academy campaign, Engineering for Growth, bringing together partner companies and organisations to promote the key role of engineering in rebalancing the economy and highlighting an impending skills shortage.

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering

The first ever Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering was awarded in 2013 to the engineers who led the development of the internet and the World Wide Web. The prize proved to have an enormous impact, both in getting engineering achievement into the media and inspiring young people to consider engineering as a career. It also received an almost unprecedented level of cross-party support, with the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition all speaking at the initial launch of the prize in 2011 and attending the presentation at Buckingham Palace.

Collaboration with industry remained vital for Academy programmes too, with the expansion of research funding supported by industrial partners. There was also a huge increase in the Academy’s Chairs in Emerging Technologies scheme, which offers long-term support for researchers working in developing technology areas that have potential to deliver economic and social benefit to the UK. At the other end of the innovation timeline, the MacRobert Award celebrated 50 years of recognising commercially successful innovations that have already made an impact on society.

Skills for the future

The Academy began awarding the RAEng Engineers Trust Young Engineer of the Year awards in 2016, to recognise outstanding engineers early in their careers. Meanwhile, it ramped up efforts to generate a skilled pipeline of next-generation talent, publishing landmark research on engineering education and increasing its regional footprint by rolling out the format of its successful London Engineering Project to other areas including Lowestoft, Barrow-in-Furness and the Welsh Valleys – all regions with long histories of engineering but low social mobility at the time.

Efforts to attract and equip the next generation weren’t just confined to the classroom, but went hand-in-hand with increased public engagement. During this period the Academy collaborated on the new Engineer your future exhibition at London’s Science Museum, worked with the Royal Mail to launch a series of stamps celebrating British engineering, and explored the engineering behind Star Wars at New Scientist Live.

As a major partner in the government’s Year of Engineering in 2018, the Academy unveiled a brand new initiative to show young people how varied and exciting engineering careers can be. This is Engineering launched in 2018 with a series of video case studies of real engineers working in industries ranging from sport to fashion, and within its first few years of targeting UK teens on social media had already markedly changed perceptions of the profession.

A national Academy with a global outlook

With an increase in government funding, the Academy significantly increased its international activities to share engineering expertise and create lasting, scalable impact in developing nations. Supported by the Newton Fund, the Leaders in Innovation Fellowships programme was launched in 2015 to build on the success of the UK’s Enterprise Hub – equipping innovators in 17 countries with the entrepreneurial skills needed to scale their work into sustainable businesses. Meanwhile, the Academy established the annual Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation, using its networks to deliver nine months of training and support to a cohort of engineers from across sub-Saharan Africa, awarding its first £25,000 prize to Tanzania’s Askwar Hilonga in 2015.

Collaboration was key to the Academy’s international reach, and it used its convening power to host several high-profile events during this period. In 2016, the UK hosted the CAETS convocation on the theme of Engineering a better world, while the Academy hosted its second Global Grand Challenges Summit, with delegations from the US and Chinese engineering academies and representatives of 40 other nations, in 2019.

Policy advice

With growing calls for policy advice on subjects including energy, transport and cybersecurity, which depend on a wide range of engineering expertise, the Academy teamed up with 41 other professional engineering organisations to launch the National Engineering Policy Centre in 2019. In leading the initiative, the Academy aims to marshal the UK’s engineering expertise into a go-to place for policymakers seeking practical advice on national and international challenges.