Influence, innovation and beyond

Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock DBE BSc PhD was awarded fellowship in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the public understanding of STEM, Eur Ing Professor Amanda L Dowd BSc PhD in recognition of her outstanding service to the IET, and Dr Dave Smith BSc PhD in recognition of his outstanding service to the engineering profession.

Dame Dr Maggie is best known for presenting BBC One’s educational space and universe series The Sky at Night. She is an award-winning space scientist, broadcaster and author who has worked with several educational institutions to promote the study of STEM subjects and spoken to hundreds of thousands of school children to inspire the next generation.

In receiving this accolade, Maggie said: “I’m truly honoured to receive this esteemed award from the IET – and to join a collective of inspirational engineers and technologists. Working in the space industry hasn’t felt like work, but instead like magic. It’s provided me with an exciting and rewarding career, and a range of fantastic opportunities. It’s important that everyone, no matter their background, feels that they too can enjoy opportunities within STEM. I will continue to promote the space industry, and astronomy, and hope that I can inspire others to reach for the stars.”

A technologist and industrial expert by background, Dr Dave Smith is UK national technology adviser, where he advises the secretary of state for science, innovation and technology and the cabinet on the best approach to building and enhancing the UK’s technology strengths. His role includes working across government to champion the science and tech industries, in addition to building networks across industry to draw the best minds into policy-making.

Dave said: “Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing extraordinary engineers develop world-class solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems. Being in those rooms, some of that brilliance inevitably rubbed off, and I’ve contributed in my own modest way. But engineering, at its heart, is a team sport. While individual breakthroughs matter, true progress comes from collective effort. That’s why receiving any personal accolade, like this one, feels humbling – because behind every success I’ve been part of, there has been a legion of brilliant colleagues.”

Maggie, Amanda and Dave join an esteemed list of honorary fellows at the IET, including Major Tim Peake, Carol Vorderman and will.i.am. A full list can be found on our website, as well as more information on IET fellowship. We’ll spotlight our newest international honorary fellow Justina Ho in our next issue!