Meet the world leading engineers who have won a IET Achievement Award

The IET Achievement Awards exist to recognise individuals from all over the world who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of engineering, technology, and science in any sector.

This can be through research and development in their respective technical field or through their leadership of an enterprise.

One of the most significant awards is the IET Faraday Medal which this year was awarded to Mr John EE Fleming for his significant role in the development of the world’s first obstetric ultrasound device in the mid-20th century – making Mr Fleming the 98th winner of this prestigious award.

On winning his award, Mr Fleming, said: “I am honoured to receive the Faraday Medal from the IET in recognition of my life’s work and contribution to the development of medical ultrasound diagnosis.

I took over from the late Tom Brown who had built two prototypes in Glasgow. He left me to continue the development and to teach people how to use the scanners and interpret the resulting images.

To know that I have contributed to the development of these instruments that are now in worldwide use is very rewarding and to receive a Medal for my contribution was an enormous surprise.

I would like it to be seen as a recognition of the work of all the engineers and health professionals who continue to advance the development of medical diagnostic instruments.”

Other prestigious medallists include: Professor Nick McKeown, Faculty Director of the Open Networking Research Centre at Stanford University, for his work in creating a scalable internet and Dr Subir Chowdhury, chairman and CEO of ASI Consulting Group, for his pioneering work in improving process and product quality across the manufacturing industry.

Amongst the winners, we also saw the winners of the IET Apprentice and Technician Awards.

Lauren Burns, a recent graduate of the Software Engineer on the Kainos Earn as you Learn Apprenticeship scheme, was named the IET’s Engineering and Technology Apprentice Award winner; Chief Petty Officer AET(M) Adam Finch, a senior technician within the Royal Navy, was named the winner of the IET’s Armed Forces Technician Award; and Kieron Coyle, a Senior Building Information Modelling Technician at Hydrock was awarded the IET’s Engineering and Technology Technician winner.

All winners were nominated by their peers as leading engineers and technicians in their field.

The Achievement Awards are part of the IET’s Awards and Scholarships programme, which this year provided £1million in awards, prizes, and scholarships to celebrate excellence and research in the sector and encourage the next generation of engineers and technicians.

All IET awards seek to inspire and reward engineering excellence, including apprentices at the start of their careers, through to reputable, established professional engineers and technicians.

Find out more about the Achievement Awards and see the full list of this year’s winners.