New Science Museum gallery aims to inspire, enthral and challenge stereotypes

Situated on Level 1 at the museum and due to open in early summer, the Engineers gallery will celebrate engineering heritage and showcase some of these innovations through the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, with current and past prize winners featured.

The Science Museum said the heart of the gallery will be filled with illustrated stories from over 60 engineers working in industries ranging farming, fashion, robotics and medicine, providing details on their lives, motivations, thought processes, and what they do day-to-day.

These stories will sit within four sections that will highlight the promising new work that builds on the successes of previous QEPrize winners.

The Science Museum said Bodies​ will look at how controlled drug delivery and surgical robots place people and their bodies at the heart of precision engineering practice. In Lives​, LED lighting and digital imaging sensors​ will illustrate how engineers work sustainably, building lasting businesses, with minimal ecological footprint. In Connections​, GPS, internet and web technologies represent engineering as a connected practice, with teams creating new global information and communication systems. Finally, Creating​ will look at how engineers create products, from software to suspension bridges.

In a statement, Sir Ian Blatchford, director and chief executive of the Science Museum Group, said: “Everyday life depends on the skills and creativity of engineers. In bringing this fabulous new gallery to life, we’re delighted to be working with the QEPrize, whose recognition of some of the most brilliant minds and important innovations of our time is so vital. I know our many visitors will be inspired by the stories they will encounter.”

A report titled Educational Pathways into Engineering, Engineering UK 2020 showed that young people’s knowledge of engineering is low, and what they do know is often influenced by stereotypes and misinformation. The museum believes that by connecting audiences with people like themselves, the gallery will provide a gateway to a subject many feel disconnected from.

Once inside, visitors will have the opportunity to take a closer look at innovations including the CMR ‘Versius’ surgical robot arm, the first digital camera, and a miniature atomic clock which the entire GPS system depended upon.

Lord Browne of Madingley FREng FRS, chairman of The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, said: “Engineering enables and enhances every aspect of modern life and we are honoured to be able to work with the Science Museum to showcase the creativity and exhilaration of engineering innovation in such a public forum. Engineers hold the key to solving many of the global challenges we face in the future and the QEPrize exists to celebrate their visionary achievements.”

Engineers – which is free to enter and supported by the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (major funder) and MathWorks (major sponsor) – opens in June 2023. The 2023 winner of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering will be announced in London on Tuesday 7 February 2023 at the Royal Academy of Engineering.