Why the UK needs an engineering prize
18 Nov 11 - Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer
Today David Cameron, the Prime Minister, announced the creation
of a global award for engineering excellence.
The new £1m Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering will be
awarded every two years for a "groundbreaking advance in
engineering which has led to significant international public
benefit".
At its launch the Prime Minister said: "This is the country that
gave the world the industrial revolution. Our engineering changed
the world. And it's not just part of our past. We are very good at
it today".
He is right. Britain still produces great engineers. In
the last few decades it seems we have forgotten this, with an
economy increasingly driven by consumer and financial services
sectors.
But we cannot assume that we can all participate in the service
economy. If everyone is providing or delivering service then
everything we need will be imported - and this is at the root of
the financial imbalances affecting Europe today. We cannot all
consume.
Economies need to make and export things. And we can do it.
Successful economies such as Germany and Denmark have high unit
labour rates, yet lead the world in the manufacture of wind
turbines, and in Germany's case cars.
Engineers are the real revolutionaries
Britain has a great engineering heritage, and nowhere is this
stronger than in the sea. Less than a century ago more than half
the world's shipping was built on the Clyde. In the 1970's oil boom
we designed and built some of the largest structures the world has
ever seen.
And now, as fossil fuels become more scarce, we need to grasp
the opportunity for new energy revolution based on a low carbon
future.
Not only will this insulate us from the effect of fossil fuel
price volatility, it will create new jobs and new industry here in
the UK.
That is why this new prize is so exciting. As the Prime Minister
said:
"We are here because we believe in the inventiveness and the
genius of the British people.
"In many ways engineers are the real revolutionaries, the ones
who take society forward."
Britain has an opportunity to lead the green energy revolution -
and it will have engineering, and young engineers, at its
heart.