Meet the world leading engineers who have won an 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.

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

One of the most significant awards is the IET Faraday Medal and the 2022 recipient is Dr Chad A. Mirkin for his contributions to nanotechnology and nanoengineering.

This includes the invention and development of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) – technology which is being used in the early detection of diseases, and identification of new genetic markers and has led to a new therapeutic pipeline for gene regulation and immunotherapy.

On winning his award, Dr Mirkin, said: “It’s incredible. The people that have won it in the past constitute a who’s who list of those that have changed the world through science and engineering.

When I look at past recipients, the discoverer of the electron, the person who first split an atom, the inventor of the first computer – it’s an unbelievable history, an incredible honour, and I am obviously absolutely thrilled to be among that crew.”

Another prestigious accolade is the Mountbatten Model which this year goes to Dr Santokh Badesha for developing materials enabling the wide-ranging use of laser printing and the creation of colour laser printing.

Dr Badesha’s inventions appear in nearly every production product released by Xerox over the past 25+ years and he is internationally recognised for the invention of technologies that have supported the era of digital printing on demand, transforming the communication and productivity of hundreds of millions of people globally.

Dr Badesha said: “I am truly honoured and thankful to receive this distinguished recognition from the IET. It is a testament to the encouragement that Xerox and Purdue Engineering have provided me over the years to take ideas from test tubes to customer's hands using fundamental scientific and engineering principles.”

Amongst the 2022 recipients were the winners of the Apprentice and Technician awards:

• Jared Newnham, an Aerospace Engineering Degree Apprentice with the DE&S Air Domain, Ministry of Defence, is the IET’s Engineering and Technology Apprentice winner.
• Sgt Wathan BEng IEng MIET, a Mechanical Aircraft Technician in Engineering Standards and Evaluation at Royal Air Force Marham, is this year’s IET’s Armed Forces Technician Award winner.
• Charlotte Huntley, a Junior Electrical Instrumentation Control and Automation Engineer at Arcadis, is the winner of the IET’s Engineering and Technology Technician Award.

The Achievement Awards are part of the IET’s Awards and Scholarships programme, which 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.

You can view more information about the Awards and the full list of our fantastic 2022 winners.