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June 17, 2024
Four teachers and three leading engineers were recognised for their dedicated work in bridging education and careers in industry, and in exploiting core research, at the annual ERA Foundation (ERAF) lecture and dinner on Thursday 13th June at The Royal Society.
Over 100 engineers, scientists, industrialists and supporters of manufacturing and engineering joined Lord David Willetts, chair of the UK Space Agency, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering Sir Jim McDonald, and Foundation chairman Professor Sir Christopher Snowden and ERA Foundation board members, to acknowledge and award their impressive work.
Each year, exceptional secondary and primary school teachers who have gone beyond the curriculum to inspire students and show real-world engineering in the classroom, are recognised by the David Clark Prize, named after former ERA Foundation secretary Dr David Clark, who presented the awards. The winners receive £3,000 and their school receives £12,000 over three years. Biochemist turned teacher Paul Tyler, who won the primary school category, is STEM and Innovation Lead at Kirkhill Primary School near Inverness. He has reimagined aspects of the school’s curriculum to focus more on engineering, STEM and sustainability, and has set up and funded a new STEM Innovation hub. Winner of the secondary school award, maths teacher and director of STEM at East Point Academy, Anthony Vaughan-Evans, is committed to delivering STEM to youngsters in Lowestoft and Waveney, two deprived areas. Anthony’s commitment to engaging external support means that students here are given stimulating and contextual STEM experiences. He has just begun creating a “Centre of Excellence for STEM” in the region.
Anthony’s colleague and director of Design and Technology at Inspiration Trust in Suffolk is Kate Finlay. Kate’s dedication to providing students with industry-relevant experience and exposure has significantly contributed to the growth and success of the Design & Technology department at Hethersett Academy. “Kate has transformed the technology department at Hethersett Academy beyond all recognition,” said Jane Diver, executive principal of Hethersett Academy. “Kate has worked tirelessly to design a curriculum that has enabled all children to engage in a curriculum that is innovative, creative and inspiring. Kate has single-handedly built a 200+ attendee conference for D&T teachers and employers in Lowestoft, on 12th July. Becki Davies received a big round of applause for being highly commended in the primary schools’ award. The Science Subject Leader at The Willows Primary School in Manchester was recognised for her commitment to building positive perceptions of STEM futures for every child, regardless of gender, socio-economic background, or geographical location.
She has created new enrichment approaches in her school and extends her enthusiasm and passion to inspire other schools beyond her own, influencing children and families across Stoke-on-Trent. Net zero links outstanding engineering fellowships The ERA Foundation awards annual fellowships to promising engineering companies and individuals. The 2024 Fellows are: battery engineer Sanzhar Taizhan of Taisan Energy. The company develops sodium battery technology to make batteries more sustainable. It has developed a new battery called Hexagonal, with several advantages over incumbent batteries like volume availability and fast charging. And Taisan was awarded “Best Growth Potential” firm in 2023 by the Department for Transport. The second fellowship award went to Alex Shakeshaft at Enturi Solutions Ltd, for developing off-grid wind-powered distributed energy systems that help meet net-zero goals. Enturi recently won Innovate UK funding to progress its small wind system innovations. The ERAF also recognised Paul McHard, senior software engineer at HAL Robotics, for his work on autonomous robotic detection and correction of surface defects in manufacturing. Royal Academy of Engineering president Sir Jim McDonald and Lord David Willetts, chairman of the UK Space Agency, made speeches with strong messages to the next government. Lord Willetts urged the UK and Europe to work together more Press release: For immediate release closely in defence and security, and suggested more of the UK defence budget can be used for research applied to civil aviation. In his speech, Sir Jim remarked the ability of policymakers to listen to engineers must improve. “Part of the answer in our great nation might be to elect more engineers as lawmakers. There are some notable engineering heroes in the House of Commons, but our back of the envelope estimate is that the next Parliament of 650 MPs will still have fewer than 15 engineers. Aside from being Mexico’s first female president, I note that Claudia Sheinbaum has a PhD in energy engineering, and she comes from a family of scientists and engineers.”.
Lord Willetts warned of hard choices for a new government to make in a flat-cash economy and reminded everyone of the Foundation’s beginnings and the hard value of research, comparing it to the Catapult centres, saying, “ERA has an interesting and important history – it was one of the research associations founded a century ago to bring together public and private investment in key technologies and sectors. That is as important and topical now as it was when research association were set up. I see our nine Catapults created since 2010 as a new way of delivering that objective. We need to continue to support the development and application of technology. Bold use of new technologies is a vital way of ensuring that public services improve even whilst funding remains tight.” ERA Foundation Chair, Sir Christopher Snowden, said, “We were delighted have Lord Willetts and Sir Jim McDonald, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, as the speakers at the Foundation’s annual lecture and dinner.
Together they highlighted the importance of engineering to the UK economy and the opportunity this presents to the future government. Amongst the awards made, the Clarke Prizes were particularly appreciated, given to teachers who have made exceptional contributions to STEM teaching in primary and secondary schools. The evening also provided an excellent opportunity for guests from many backgrounds to meet and exchange experiences and ideas.”
