Engineering news
Chemical engineer Dr Robert Langer has won the 2015 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, worth £1 million.
Langer, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US, was recognised for his work on advancing engineering at the interface of chemistry and medicine.
Langer has more than 1,000 issued and pending patents, and over 200 major prizes to his name. He was the first person to engineer polymers to control the delivery of large molecular weight drugs for the treatment of diseases such as cancer.
Lord Browne, chairman of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, said: “Robert Langer is an extraordinarily talented engineer. His work has transformed the lives of billions of people from across the globe.”
Langer's work on controlled release drug delivery systems is credited with advancing treatment for diseases such as prostate cancer. And it is leading to advancement in emerging technologies such as tissue engineering – the matching of cells and materials to make artificial skin and bone.
Langer said his engineering background was crucial to his research. “My engineering training was critical,” he said. “It was not just the education it gave me, but also the learning in terms of how to think and solve problems. It put me in an environment where I was constantly asked questions. I learnt about materials and polymers. It was a way of training and thinking.”
Professor Brian Cox, one of the judges for the prize, said that in many ways, Dr Langer was an 'obvious' choice of winner. “Many of the nominations were above a threshold. But Dr Langer's work has had a unique impact and continues to do so. There was a list of engineers – hundreds in number – who supported this [award] because they said they were in engineering because of the teaching of Langer, and the way that he runs his labs. His knowledge has had a fractal impact.”
Langer said he was extremely proud to have won the Queen Elizabeth prize, and said that he hoped it would help to encourage more young people into engineering. “It's a remarkable prize,” he said. “It's by far the largest engineering prize in the world.”
When asked how he would spend the £1million prize, Langer said: “My wife will figure it out.”
Dr Colin Brown, director of engineering at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “Today’s winner shows the huge impact engineering, and indeed just one engineer, can have on society.
“Robert Langer’s work to pioneer new drug delivery systems has saved countless lives, and illustrates how engineers really are improving the world through engineering.
“The UK currently is facing a critical engineering skills shortage and we need to double the number of places for graduates and apprentices in our universities, colleges and training centres, to keep our vital industries working and to enable the UK’s economy to grow. I hope Langer’s inspiring story and success today will inspire the pioneering engineers of tomorrow.”