The 2011 Shortlist - Fostering creativity to help ensure a positive future

As we draw to the end of a very difficult year in the UK and at my company, these awards are a positive and very welcome break from the challenges we all face in these difficult economic times. They highlight the fact that in engineering, the UK’s contribution and ability is far from exhausted. The nominations are impressive both for their innovation and the diversity of the sectors represented. For me they are a reminder of our long engineering tradition and why the UK is still widely regarded as a centre of excellence. But we mustn’t be complacent. More than ever we need to foster advances in technology and innovation, and the creativity of our engineers. We need to ensure we have a robust future ahead of us and that we will continue to have a unique offering that will set us apart and underpin the UK’s current and future growth.