Internet and web engineers win Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering 26 June 2013

Inaugural winners of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering received their awards from Her Majesty the Queen during a ceremony at Buckingham Palace, yesterday (25 June 2013).

The five engineers, all of whom have been leading lights in the creation of the internet and the world wide web, received their awards in front of an audience that included all three leaders of the UK's main political parties, and members of the royal family.

Robert Kahn, Vint Cerf and Louis Pouzin were recognised for their contributions to the protocols that make up the fundamental architecture of the internet; Tim Berners-Lee, for inventing the world wide web; and Marc Andreessen, who wrote the Mosaic browser.

The winners each received a trophy designed by 17 year old Jennifer Leggett, who won a national competition that called for young students to come up with a design that captured the essence of modern engineering.

"This is a fantastic week for innovation, which is absolutely vital to jobs and growth in our economy," said prime minister David Cameron.

"Yesterday, I met the face of engineering's future in Downing Street as we launched a drive for 100,000 new engineering apprentices – and today we have the inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering," he continued.

"More than any other time in history, our world is being shaped by innovation, new ideas, new technologies and new companies. This is the story of the global economy.

"People young and old around the world will be inspired by the incredible feats that these men have achieved – with our very own Sir Tim Berners-Lee a shining example of Britain's ability to succeed in the global race."

Sir Tim Berners-Lee replied: "It is a great honour to be an inaugural recipient of this prize, and wonderful that we are celebrating engineering today. While science and maths are exciting too, engineering is about building things, and making things work.

"It is great that many young engineers are involved in the events today. I hope they realise that they should give their imaginations free rein and then learn how to make their imaginings into reality.

"Maybe among people watching this locally or on the internet will be some future winners of the same prize. I am very grateful for the support of the field of engineering from Her Majesty the Queen and from all the judges and others involved in making the prize happen."

Brian Tinham

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