Ventilator Challenge UK Consortium’s achievements recognized by the Royal Academy of Engineering

The Royal Academy of Engineering has included the Ventilator Challenge UK consortium as one of 19 individuals and teams of engineers awarded with the President's Special Awards for Pandemic Service for exceptional engineering achievements in tackling COVID-19 throughout the UK.

The awards have been made to teams, organisations, individuals, collaborations and projects across all technical specialities, disciplines and career stages within the UK engineering community who have contributed to addressing the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Specially commissioned silver medals will be presented to all 19 winners later this year.

The winners include the Ventilator Challenge UK Consortium (VCUK), University College London, University of Cambridge, University of Southampton, as well as researchers from Imperial College London, University of Oxford and King’s College London amongst others. A full list of winners is available on the Royal Academy of Engineering’s website.

Professor Sir Jim McDonald FREng FRSE, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, says:

“The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest public health crisis of our time and has presented society with multiple challenges. Engineering expertise and innovation has been central to the global fight to save lives and protect livelihoods.

“I am also incredibly proud of engineers everywhere who have worked round the clock to maintain essential services, critical supply chains and infrastructure in unprecedented circumstances, using their training and skills to find innovative solutions to a host of problems and to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on our daily lives.”

Professor Raffaella Ocone OBE FREng FRSE, Chair of the Academy’s Awards Committee, says:

“Engineering skills—including innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration—have proved to be of vital importance during the current pandemic. We were delighted that the breadth of nominations for these awards reflected so much of the extraordinary work engineers have been doing.

“While I am delighted that we are able to recognise some of these outstanding achievements with these awards I am mindful that the important work of the vast majority of engineers will remain largely outside the public’s consciousness. They are all deserving of our thanks and admiration for their continuing positive contribution to society.”