With the generous support of the Worshipful Company of Engineers, the Academy will make five awards of £3,000 each year to UK* engineers in higher education, research or industrial employment, who have demonstrated excellence in the early stage of their career.
For this award, early career is expected to be ten years or less since graduation from their first degree in engineering or equivalent qualification on the day of the submission deadline. Any career breaks will be appropriately considered by the Committee.
The Academy aspires to recognise excellence in both academia and industry. There is no restriction on the engineering discipline of the nominee. Nominations for engineers who have come from non-traditional backgrounds e.g. apprenticeships are especially welcomed.
*By ‘UK’ we mean engineers who are either UK citizens or working in the UK for a period of not less than three years immediately before the year of the award.
From the five awardees, the Academy’s Awards Committee will select an overall winner who, in addition to the cash prize, will receive the Academy’s Sir George Macfarlane Medal.
Nominations can be submitted by anyone who would like to highlight contributions to engineering excellence.
Excellence may be demonstrated in several ways including, but not restricted to, individuals who have:
- Shown resilience in the face of challenges during their education and/or career e.g. limited resources, lack of opportunities, unexpected setbacks and changing circumstances.
- Shown outstanding flair in promoting engineering in schools or groups or leadership of initiatives regionally.
- Published work of significance that has attracted national and/or international attention evidenced by press or other citations.
- Exhibited outstanding productivity in creativity evidenced by patents or designs.
- Made a demonstrable and significant contribution to the commercial success of a project/company.
- Demonstrated outstanding leadership of a project or team within their company.
The prize will be awarded annually. The prize will not be awarded if in any year the Academy so decides.
Nomination Requirements
Details of the Nominee
- Provide full details of the nominees including their current position, and contact information.
- A 50 word summary describing their demonstrated excellence in the early stage of their career.
- The number of years since graduation from their first engineering degree.
- Curriculum Vitae (CV) of no more than two pages, focusing on the Nominee's achievements relevant to this award.
Citation
Citation of up to 500 words describing the Nominee’s demonstrated engineering excellence in the early stage of their career.
Letters of support
Nominators must provide letters of support from two referees. To ensure an impartial perspective, at least one referee must be from outside of the Nominee's organisation. The Nominator cannot be a referee. Each reference should be:
- Evidence-based, with specific examples of the nominee's achievements and how they meet the criteria for the award.
- Objective, providing an unbiased evaluation of the nominee's qualifications, work, and your reasons for supporting their nomination.
- Authored by an individual with relevant experience and a thorough understanding of the Nominee's work and field of expertise. It should state the your relationship with the nominee including your job title and position.
- Printed on organisational letterhead, if applicable.
Additional Guidelines
- Self-nominations are not accepted. However, if you are interested in this award but do not know of anyone to nominate you, please contact the Academy for assistance.
- Only completed nominations will be considered. Please ensure that the nomination form is complete with CVs and letters of support at the time of submission.
- Each nominator can submit up to three nominations for the Award in any year.
- Submissions must be made via the Academy’s Grant Management System no later than 4pm on Tuesday, 11 February 2025.
The Academy is committed to diversity and welcomes nominations and nominees from women and other groups who are currently under-represented across engineering, as well as recognising the full breadth of engineering.
If you have any queries about your nomination, please contact [email protected]