Engineering news
Set to open on 23 June this year, the London attraction’s free Engineers gallery will be “dedicated to world-changing engineering innovations and the diverse and fascinating range of people behind them”.
The installation will feature the stories of 60 engineers from a broad range of industries, including farming, fashion, robotics and medicine, highlighting their motivations, thought processes and day-to-day work.
The stories will be organised in four sections: Bodies will look at controlled drug delivery and surgical robots; Lives will illustrate how engineers work sustainably; Connections will represent engineering as a connected profession with diverse teams; and Creating will show how engineers create products, from software to suspension bridges.
“Engineers change the world,” the Science Museum announcement said. “They work creatively, sustainably, with precision and collaboratively to create bold, ground-breaking responses to global challenges and improve billions of lives.
“The Engineers gallery will celebrate our engineering heritage and showcase some of these innovations through the global lens of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) – the world’s leading award for engineers – with current and past prize winners featured throughout.”
Science Museum director Sir Ian Blatchford said: “Everyday life depends on the skills and creativity of engineers. In bringing this fabulous new gallery to life, we’re delighted to be working with the QEPrize, whose recognition of some of the most brilliant minds and important innovations of our time is so vital. I know our many visitors will be inspired by the stories they will encounter.”
Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, CEO of the QEPrize and the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “2023 marks the first decade of the QEPrize and its role in championing bold, ground-breaking engineering innovation that is of global benefit to humanity. Working with our global QEPrize Ambassador Network of early-career engineers, some of whom are featured in this exhibition, we aim to inspire young people from all backgrounds, all around the world, to consider a future career in engineering.”
Research has shown that young people’s knowledge of engineering is low, and what they do know is often influenced by stereotypes and misinformation. The gallery curators hope it could provide a “much-needed ‘way in’ to a subject many feel disconnected from”.
Visitors will have the opportunity for a closer look at objects including the cutting-edge CMR Versius surgical robot arm, the first digital camera, and a miniature atomic clock which the entire GPS system depended upon.
The 2023 winner of the QEPrize will be announced on 7 February at the Royal Academy of Engineering.
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