Trophy design competition launches with £5,000 prize

The Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering has launched a competition in association with the Tate, the Design Museum and the Science Museum, for young people in the UK to design the iconic trophy that will be presented to the winner of the prestigious £1 million international prize. 

16 to 24 year olds are being invited to submit a design that represents the wonder of modern engineering. Anyone in that age group can enter, with particular interest expected from those studying or working in art, design, fashion and technology, as well as those studying or working in engineering. The winning entry will reflect the creativity, power and importance of engineering so that the trophy is asymbol of the integral role the engineering profession plays in society.

Finalists will see their designs prototyped using state-of-the-art 3D printing. Every finalist will be invited to London to present their prototyped design in person to the panel of judges, which includes architect Dame Zaha Hadid; Director of the Tate, Sir Nicholas Serota; Science Museum director, Ian Blatchford; Design Museum director, Deyan Sudjic; and Engineer, Yewande Akinola. The winning design will be used to create the trophy for the inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and the winning designer will also receive £5,000.

Using the latest programming and design technology a unique digital application has been developed for the trophy competition. Entrants will create and ‘build’ their designs in a 3D online environment. The application can be downloaded free from the Queen Elizabeth Prize website and must be used by everyone entering the competition.

Head of the QE Prize trustees, Lord Browne of Madingley said, “The aim of the Queen Elizabeth Prize is to celebrate global engineering excellence and it’s absolutely vital that the trophy embodies all that is inspirational about engineering. It’ll be quite a challenge for the UK’s young designers but I’m sure they’re up to the task.”

Ian Blatchford, director of the Science Museum and former deputy director of the V&A, says “Asking aspiring designers to create a trophy that will eventually be awarded to leading engineers is a clever cross-generation link epitomising the imaginative spirit of the Prize”

Zaha Hadid, the architect of the celebrated Aquatics Centre for the London 2012 Olympics Games said, “Design & Architecture should be the complete marriage of form and function. One should never be sacrificed for the other. It’s exciting to see how these young talented designers choose to embody the beauty and strength of engineering”

For more details about the competition, including the rules and conditions and to submit entries go to: www.qeprize.org/trophy