Technology and Innovation award winners revealed

In the week that the Royal Society celebrated its 350th anniversary, The Engineer returned to the revered scientific academy today for its fourth Technology & Innovation Awards ceremony.

Hosted by Robert Llewellyn - best known for his role as Kryten in Red Dwarf and currently fronting his own unique take on the chat show format in Carpool - the awards acknowledged engineering excellence emanating from collaborative engineering projects in ten categories.

The top prize, the Grand Prix Award, went to Southampton University Medical School, Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust (Southampton General Hospital, Department of Trauma and Orthopaedics), and Smith & Nephew for their orthopaedic stem cell concentrator.

Also the winner in the Medical Technology category, the winning device produces concentrated stem cells from a bone marrow sample taken during surgery, which could significantly improve the outcome of surgery on hard-to-heal fractures.

‘This was a fantastic example of cross-sector collaboration on technology in one of the UK’s key emerging technology sectors,’ commented Jon Excell, editor of The Engineer and chairman of the judging panel. ‘It could potentially make an enormous difference to many people’s lives.’