James Watt International Gold Medal facts for kids
The James Watt Medal is a special award given to amazing engineers. It was created in 1937 by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in the United Kingdom. This award is named after James Watt (1736–1819), a Scottish engineer.
James Watt invented an improved Watt steam engine in 1781. This invention was super important for the Industrial Revolution, which changed how things were made and how people lived, first in his home country of Great Britain and then all over the world.
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The James Watt International Gold Medal
The James Watt International Gold Medal is a very important award given by the British Institution of Mechanical Engineers. It goes to an outstanding mechanical engineer from anywhere in the world.
This medal was created to celebrate 200 years since James Watt was born. He was a scientist, an inventor, and someone who made things. Because of this, the award is given every two years to an engineer who has done amazing work in mechanical engineering and used science to make it better. Engineering groups from all over the world help choose who gets this special medal.
Who has won the International Gold Medal?
Here are some of the talented engineers who have received the James Watt International Gold Medal:
| Year | Recipient | Nominated by | Achievement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Sir John Aspinall | The Institution of Mechanical Engineers | Locomotive designer | |
| 1939 | Henry Ford | American Society of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1941 | Professor Aurel Stodola | Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects, Czechoslovakia Society of Engineers, Engineering Institute of Canada |
Steam turbine engineer | |
| 1943 | Anthony Michell | Institution of Engineers, Australia, South African Institute of Engineers, Engineering Institute of Canada |
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| 1945 | Dr Frederick Lanchester | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1947 | Professor Stephen Timoshenko | Swiss Society of Mechanical Engineers and Architects | ||
| 1949 | Dr Fredrik Ljungström | Swedish Society of Engineers | ||
| 1951 | Dr Hans Henrik Blache | Danish Society of Engineers | ||
| 1953 | Sir Harry Ricardo | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1955 | Dr Igor Sikorsky | American Society of Engineers | ||
| 1957 | Professor Walther Bauersfeld | Verein Deutscher Ingenieure | ||
| 1959 | Sir Claude Gibb | Institution of Engineers, Australia, Institution of Mechanical Engineers |
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| 1961 | Professor Dr Theodore von Karman | American Society of Engineers | ||
| 1963 | Sir William Stanier | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | English mechanical engineer and locomotive designer | |
| 1965 | Professor Sir Geoffrey Taylor | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1967 | Academician Ivan Ivanovitch Artobolevskii | Academy of Sciences of the USSR | ||
| 1969 | Dr Hideo Shima | Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers | Chief engineer of Tōkaidō Shinkansen high speed train | |
| 1971 | Dr Robert R. Gilruth | American Society of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1973 | The Rt Hon the Lord Hinton of Bankside | Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects | ||
| 1975 | Professor Dr-Ing Siegfried Meurer | Verein Deutscher Ingenieure | ||
| 1977 | Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle | New Zealand Institution of Engineers | ||
| 1979 | Raymond Heacock | American Society of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1981 | Professor J. P. Den Hartog | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | Professor emeritus and former head of the department of mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology | |
| 1983 | Sir Christopher Cockerell | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1985 | Sir Hugh Ford | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1987 | Sir Denis Rooke | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1989 | John E Steiner | Fellowship of Engineering | ||
| 1991 | Soichiro Honda | Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1993 | Frédéric d'Allest | Comitedes Applications Académie des Sciences, France | Aero and space engineer, head of ISAE and Arianespace | |
| 1995 | Eiji Toyoda | Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1997 | Sydney Gillibrand | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 1999 | Professor Sir Bernard Crossland | Institution of Engineers of Ireland | ||
| 2001 | Professor Duncan Dowson | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 2003 | Sir Ralph Robins | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 2005 | Leroy 'Skip' Fletcher | American Society of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 2008 | Professor Emeritus John Spence | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 2010 | Professor Roger Morgan Goodall | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 2012 | Sir Sze-yuen Chung | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 2014 | Professor Richard Parry-Jones | Institution of Mechanical Engineer | ||
| 2016 | Professor Dame Ann Dowling | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | ||
| 2019 | Sir David McMurtry | Institution of Mechanical Engineers | For a lifelong emphasis on research and development | |
| 2021 | Prof. Emeritus Izhak Etsion | Technion - Israel Institute of Technology | For outstanding contributions in the field of Tribology |
The James Watt Medal of the Institution of Civil Engineers
There is also another award called the James Watt Medal, given by the British Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). This medal is for engineers who work with energy.
The Institution of Civil Engineers says that this medal is given for important papers (like research reports) that have a lot of mechanical engineering content. This medal was started in 1858 by Robert Stephenson, who was the president of the ICE at the time.
Who has won the ICE James Watt Medal?
Some of the people who have received the James Watt Medal from the Institution of Civil Engineers include:
- 1880s? Basil Wood for his work on Combined Heat and Power.
- 2000 Paul Kassabian, a structural engineer interested in design and control.
- 2000 Professor Sergio Pellegrino, a professor who works with lightweight structures.
- 2005 Choo Yoo Sang, J W Boh, and L Louca.
- 2009 Dick Fenner and Joan Ko for their paper on making homes more energy efficient in the UK.
- 2010 Neil Chapman for a paper about how to safely get rid of radioactive waste.
- 2014 Malcolm Joyce.
- 2019 Tobias Lühn and Jutta Geldermann for their work on making power grids better using batteries and solar power.
See also
- List of engineering awards
- List of mechanical engineering awards
