FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MACROBERT AWARD

That this House recognises 2019 as the fiftieth anniversary of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s MacRobert Award for UK innovation in engineering; congratulates the finalists shortlisted for this year’s prize, Bombardier from Belfast, Darktrace from Cambridge, M Squared Lasers from Glasgow and OrganOx from Oxford; notes the prize’s importance in rewarding outstanding innovation, tangible societal benefit and proven commercial success within the UK engineering sector; notes the major role played by engineering innovation in benefiting the British economy and society; and calls on the Government to encourage UK engineering to flourish in the future, through measures proposed by the National Engineering Policy Centre such as investing in economic and digital infrastructure, increasing funding for engineering innovation, supporting the transition to a low-carbon energy system, and implementing the recommendations of the Perkins Review of engineering skills.