Leading engineers and technologists recognised at the E&T Innovation Awards 2022

This year, a new accolade – Chief Engineer of the Year – was introduced. This was awarded to Mallik Tatipamula for his incredible commitment to international collaboration and dedication to innovation through substantial contributions toward the advancement of 5G technology.

As Chief Engineer and Technologist at Ericsson, Mallik has had a defining impact on the advancement of 5G and 6G. Some of Mallik’s key achievements in this area have also included promoting innovation through industry-academia collaborations and providing international leadership on the emerging 6G vision.

On winning, Mallik said: “I am incredibly grateful to receive this award. It is such an honour to have my work recognised by the IET and by leaders from across the industry. I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has been involved in helping me develop my career so far and to the selection committee of E&T awards!”

Now in its 18th year, the E&T Innovation Awards highlight the outstanding work of engineers, organisations and the projects they are working on, to bring about positive change to our world.

For 2022, the E&T Innovation Awards featured a range of new prizes to reflect the latest societal challenges faced by engineers and technologists.

Other winners at this year’s celebration included an advanced bionic hand favoured by a gold-medal-winning Paralympian and the world’s first returnable satellite platform.

The 2022 E&T Innovation Award winners are:

• Chief Engineer of the Year: Mallik Tatipamula
• Best Emerging Technology of the Year: Ars Electronica Futurelab, Johannes Kepler University and Siemens Healthineers for Virtual Anatomy, an immersive 3D environment to explore human anatomy
• Communications and IT: China Electric Power Research Institute for the development of HPLC technology to set up the energy internet communication highway
• Company of the Year: Space Forge for their work on in-space manufacturing, including the world’s first returnable satellite platform
• Cyber Security and Information Assurance: BT for developing cutting edge capabilities with Inflame – epidemiological malware simulation and automated response using deep reinforcement learning
• Difference Maker of the Year: Navjot Sawhney for The Washing Machine Project, a grassroots social enterprise aiming to solve some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian and development challenges
• Digital Health & Social Care: COVVI for engineering the most advanced bionic hand on the market, The COVVI Hand
• Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) in Engineering & Tech: Pūhoro STEMM Academy for their Indigenous solution to challenges in STEM equity
• Future Mobility: KAN Engineering, Ford Motor Company, IDIADA, Smart Mobility Living Lab: London, HORIBA MIRA, UTAC-Millbrook, University of Leeds and Zenzic for their flexible systems-of-systems approach to CAM simulation testing
• Intelligent Systems: BT for developing cutting edge capabilities with Inflame – epidemiological malware simulation and automated response using deep reinforcement learning
• Net Zero and Sustainability: National Grid Electricity Transmission and The University of Manchester for the retro-fill replacement of SF6 to accelerate the decarbonisation of the electricity network, accelerating a NetZero future
• Power and Energy: Oxford PV for perovskite photovoltaics to convert more energy from the power of the sun and accelerate the deployment of solar energy, enabling sustainable, affordable energy for communities around the world
• Future of Manufacturing: Russell Finex for the Russell AMPro Sieve Station, a powder handling solution
• SmartTech for a Smarter World: Tsinghua University for developing novel wide-band electromagnetic sensors and panoramic information perceptions for intelligent power grids
• Tech for Good: Kuronga Limited for the use of AI to optimise quality validation and grading, and to connect farmers with buyers
• Young Pioneer: Rayna Borah for developing Breathing Cart which uses hydroponics (growing plants without soil) to address a significant challenge farmers and food vendors face

The E&T Innovation Awards are sponsored by MathWorks, National Grid, RS, and created in partnership with the Innovation Leadership Forum.