ROYAL APPOINTMENT: The Queen Elizabeth Prize


The first step towards encouraging more young people to take up careers in engineering, says Lord Browne


john browne


President of the Royal Academy of Engineering


The Queen Elizabeth Prize will celebrate all areas of engineering, from televisions to telescopes.


T Education


Degree in physics from Cambridge University MS in business from Stanford University, California Career


Career


1966 Joined BP as a university apprentice


1984 Became group treasurer and chief executive of BP Finance International


1989 Promoted to managing director and chief executive officer of BP Exploration


1991 Joined BP’s board as managing director


1995 Appointed chief exective 2001 Became a life peer


2006 Appointed president of the Royal Academy of Engineering


2007 Takes early retirement from BP


2010 Released Browne report on higher-education funding


2011 Appointed chair of Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering


34 actionetwork


his is not yet another article saying that engineering in the UK is ‘in crisis’. That term has been so chronically overused in


the last 12 months that it has virtually lost its meaning. In fact, the numbers of young people deciding to study engineering and technology in the UK has at last slowly started to climb. But they still account for only around six percent


of the entire student population. There is clearly something wrong when engi-


neering companies in the UK are struggling to fill job vacancies at a time when more than a million young people are out of work. Contrast this with the scene in India and China, which produce half a million engineers between them, every year. Economically, the importance of engineering


cannot bee overstated. In 2009, UK industry con- tributed 21 per cent of the country’s GDP, but that figure had declined from 34 per cent in 1990 – according to the United Nations conference on Trade and development statistics.


Trend Most other developed economies have experi-


enced a contraction of their industrial sectors, but even so, we are well behind the developed econo- my average of 24 per cent. And the trend is still heading down. Compare that with the emerging economies and you see our challenge. India derives 28 per cent of its GDP from indus-


try and China 48 per cent, and the trend in both countries is sharply up. That is why I am calling for up to two million


engineers to be produced from the UK economy to help cure the often discussed weakness of the UK in turning ideas into clobal commercial successes. The UK economy needs engineering in order to remain competitive in an increasingly global econ- omy. The UK has a world-class knowledge base


and we hope that the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering will re-invigorate interest and passion in engineering what will make the most of what we already have and build on it. This country needs an industrial strategy to set it back on the path to economic growth. We, the engineering profession, with the support of government, must excite young people to join us in re-engineering the economy. We must encourage schools to present engineer- ing as an aspirational career. We must give stu- dents a financial reason to choose engineering at university – more scholarships and fast-track courses, and guaranteed work placements.


‘I am calling for up to two million engineers


to be produced to help turn UK ideas into global successes


Today we’re taking the first step along that road. ’


We’re inviting nominations for a new kind of inter- national engineering prize – one that will consider achievements in all areas from fashion to fusion and from telescopes to televisions. The aim of the Queen Elizabeth Prize is two-fold.


It will celebrate the world’s greatest modern engi- neering achievements, bestowing £1m on the win- ner, while proving to young people just how diverse, how creative, how relevant and important engineer - ing really is. This is not simply a prize. This is a recognition of


everything that engineering is and everything that engineering can will become. In this task, we must not fail – the economic future of the UK depends upon it.


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