NEWS 8 HYDRAULICS & PNEUMATICS October 2025 www.hpmag.co.uk The ERA Foundation has marked its 25th anniversary by celebrating more than two decades of investment in engineering and manufacturing engagement, including the funding of hundreds of projects worth over £20 million, and by awarding the 2025 Clark Prize to four teachers across the UK. At a special event at the Royal Society in London, Sir John Lazar CBE FREng, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, gave a keynote speech on the Academy’s strategy and focus on skills for engineering. He was joined by ERA President Sir Alan Rudge CBE FREng, Chair Andrew Churchill OBE FREng, and 130 guests to toast the support of a long list of pro-engineering activities, from value-creating enterprise hubs to engineering fellowships and teachers whose work has showcased engineering to school children across the UK. Sir John emphasised the importance of inclusive skills development: “Equity, diversity and inclusion is a vital thread through all three goals [of the Academy’s strategy] because we can’t talk about delivering positive outcomes for people without talking about how engineering designs for all of society, and how engineers therefore need to reflect all of society.” The Foundation has played a central role in shaping engineering opportunities, from funding 55 industrial fellowships and over 100 Arkwright Engineering Scholars, to helping establish the Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub. Ranked among the top three enterprise hubs in the UK and 14th in Europe by the Financial Times and Statista, the Hub has supported over 600 researchers and entrepreneurs and contributed to nearly 6,000 jobs. Highlighting the Foundation’s reach into schools, the annual Clark Prize - named after former ERA Executive Secretary Dr David Clark - recognised four inspirational teachers for their commitment to bringing engineering into the classroom. Lucy Hart of Caroline Haslett Primary School in Milton Keynes and Tracey Ellicott of East Wemyss Primary School in Fife won the primary category, while Clare Doherty of St Mary’s College, Derry, and Dewi Thomas of YGG Bro Edern in Cardiff won at secondary level. Each school receives £12,000 over three years to support their STEM engagement projects, with the teachers also receiving individual awards. This is the first year that the prize has been awarded to two teachers per category, and the first time that schools from all four nations of the UK are represented. “The winning teachers of this year’s Clark Prize are outstanding; it is quite overwhelming to see the amount of work they devote to connecting engineering and manufacturing with school pupils,” said Andrew Everett, executive secretary of the ERA Foundation. “Their biographies speak for themselves. The Clark Prize will continue to identify and reward hard-working STEM teachers and schools, and we know there are many more out there.” Churchill added: “It is very exciting to celebrate the commencement of our 25th year of the ERA Foundation. We are very privileged to be custodians of a foundation that has the means to support such an array of brilliant projects right across the spectrum, from big investments like the Royal Academy of Engineering’s ‘Enterprise Hub’, which has funded over 600 entrepreneurs, to the primary schools of teachers such as Lucy Hart and Tracey Ellicott, who infectiously share the excitement of engineering with school children from a young age.” Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE, CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “We congratulate the ERA Foundation on its inspiring work to promote and enable future engineering innovation and skills over the last quarter of a century. I am delighted to be able to work with this farsighted organisation, which has played such an active role in supporting the work of our Academy and particularly our successful and growing Enterprise Hub.” Since its founding, the ERA Foundation has collaborated with a wide range of partners, from STEM Learning and EngineeringUK to the Smallpeice Trust, while also embracing digital platforms such as Born to Engineer to connect new generations with careers in engineering. With its influence now stretching across research, enterprise, schools and social media, the Foundation remains a quiet but powerful force in advancing UK engineering. ERA Foundation marks 25 years with celebration of engineering and Clark Prize for teachers
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=