The search is on for the best engineers in the North East

The organisation is encouraging applications for its coveted MacRobert Award and is particularly keen to hear from businesses in the North East, in its search for the greatest examples of engineering innovation throughout the UK.

The award, which was first presented in 1969, is the UK’s longest-running prize for engineering innovation. It recognises outstanding engineering innovation combined with proven commercial success and tangible social benefit.

Winners receive a £50,000 cash prize, gold medal and national acclaim.

Dr Dame Sue Ion DBE FREng FRS, chairman of the award judging panel, said: “The North East has a strong engineering heritage and is also paving the way for a better future, with the region playing a leading role in fields like stem cell research and renewable energy.

“Our aim is to showcase the UK’s outstanding innovations with the MacRobert Award, and we are confident there are many examples here in the North East.

“Applications for the award are now open and we encourage companies to enter for a chance to win the UK’s most prestigious engineering innovation prize.”

Companies in the North East have been recognised by the academy’s MacRobert Award for their outstanding innovations in the past. A team at Lucite International UK Ltd, from Billingham, was shortlisted in 2010 for their pioneering method for manufacturing acrylic, and back in 1994, Newcastle’s Soil Machine Dynamics won the award for its subsea cable and pipeline ploughs.

All MacRobert Award applications are judged by a panel of Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering, which includes some of the most influential and well-respected names in UK engineering, using a comprehensive selection process.

Applicants are whittled down to a shortlist of three finalists, which will be announced in May.

The 2018 winner will be revealed at the Academy Awards Dinner in London on June 27, in front of an audience of top engineers, business leaders, politicians and journalists.

Applications for the 2018 MacRobert Award are now open and close on January 31.

For more information on applying, visit http://www.raeng.org.uk/grants-and-prizes/prizes-and-medals/awards/the-macrobert-award.