Celebrating excellence: The IET Achievement Awards 2025
Each year, the IET Achievement Awards recognise the brightest minds in engineering and technology. We honour people who push the boundaries of innovation and inspire the next generation. This year, 14 exceptional individuals received medals and trophies for their outstanding contributions to the industry. We celebrated innovators for their outstanding developments in photovoltaics, physical computing and quantum technology as well as digital image transmission and wearable tech.
Trailblazers, shaping our world
From engineers combating climate change to pioneers who helped lay the foundations of the early internet, this year’s winners showcase the breadth and impact of engineering and technology excellence. Highlights include an inventor of the world’s first patented period detection product for visually impaired women, and professors whose breakthroughs have helped to educate millions of children.
It would be understandable to feel intimidated by the careers, inventions and impact of the winners. But all 14 of these brilliant people are inspired by those who have gone before them. That’s exactly what is at the heart of the IET Achievement Awards: celebrating accomplishment while inspiring future innovators. The awards recognise talent across all career stages, from apprentices to established engineers and technicians.
Award highlights
Among the many accolades, two of the most prestigious awards given are the Faraday Medal and the Mountbatten Medal.
Professor Martin A Green wins this year's Faraday Medal for his transformative work in renewable energy. He is credited with having done “more to help ward off impending climate catastrophe than any other single person.” And is renowned for taking photovoltaics from excessively expensive to providing some of the cheapest electricity ever seen via combined technological and industrial impact.
Professor Green said, “It is a great honour to be awarded the prestigious IET Faraday Medal, particularly given the achievements of previous Faraday Medallists. I’m delighted to join earlier Medallists like Heaviside, Thompson, Crompton, Rutherford, Bragg, Langmuir and Mott who have populated my textbooks throughout my engineering career.”
The Mountbatten Medal is awarded to Professor Steve Hodges, recognised for developing and promoting opportunities for children to engage with technology via physical computing. Professor Hodges played a key role in developing the BBC micro:bit, a device that has reached over 65 million students in 85 countries, teaching coding and IT skills in a hands-on method
Reflecting on his achievement, Professor Hodges said, “It’s been a privilege to take my childhood fascination with electronics and computers full circle, helping to develop digital systems that inspire and empower millions of children. I am deeply honoured by the IET’s recognition and grateful to all the talented colleagues and collaborators who made it possible.”
Professor Steve Hoges pictured with his Mountbatten Medal.
Honouring outstanding contributions to tech and engineering
Other notable winners include:
- Professor Nasir Ahmed is awarded the JJ Thomson Medal for his invention of the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT). DCT has enabled the development of digital media compression. His algorithm is used for compression in every .jpeg file, worldwide. With an average file size reduction of 90% his algorithm paved the way for the early internet. About 4 billion people depend on, and benefit from, DCT!
- Muna Daud wins the Mike Sargeant Medal for her outstanding invention FlowSense. She launched the world’s first patented period detection product for use by visually impaired women.
- Nick Wirth receives an IET Achievement Medal in Sustainability and Climate Change. He's the first engineer to design an F1 race car solely with Computational Fluid Dynamics.
- Stefano Pirandola is awarded an IET Achievement Medal in Quantum Technology for establishing the ultimate communication rates for quantum key distribution (QKD), quantum teleportation, and entanglement distribution.
- Dr Junade Ali wins the Paul Fletcher Award for his exceptional and ongoing volunteering contributions to the IET’s external communications and press office function. He's significantly enhancing the IET’s visibility and credibility in the media.
Inspiring the next generation
IET President Dawn Ohlson CEng FIET, said, “We’re proud to celebrate these outstanding individuals and their impact with our Achievement Awards. Each person has demonstrated excellence in their field and made significant contributions as trailblazers to the sector. From our distinguished medallists to our exceptional apprentice and technician winners, their accomplishments reflect the very best of our profession and they are remarkable role models for the next generation.”
IET President, Dawn Ohlson CEng FIET at the Achievement Awards.
The Roll of Honorary Fellows and Faraday Medallists book.
You might feel daunted reading about the extraordinary careers of our winners – but every expert was once a beginner. The Faraday Medallist you admire, or the innovator of the system you wish you’d thought of, started their journey somewhere, inspired by those who came before them. The IET Achievement Awards are about recognising excellence today while lighting the path for tomorrow’s engineers.