British engineer Andrew Garrad and Danish engineer Henrik Stiesdal have been awarded the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering for their contributions to the development of modern wind turbine technology, recognised as pivotal in expanding renewable energy worldwide.
His Majesty King Charles III presented the 2024 and 2025 prizes at a ceremony at St James’s Palace on National Engineering Day. The award celebrates engineers whose work has delivered global benefit to humanity through innovation.
The 2024 laureates were commended for their innovations that “positioned wind power as a vital component of the world’s renewable energy mix,” according to the organisers.
Stiesdal said the honour reflected decades of collective innovation across the wind power industry. “It is an honour to receive the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering alongside Andrew. To me, it represents much more than personal recognition; it is a tribute to the collective efforts of pioneers and engineers in wind power,” he said.
He added, “Since the late 1970s they embodied the essence of this Prize, creating bold, groundbreaking innovations delivering sustainable and competitive energy, addressing climate change and providing global benefits for humanity.”
Garrad described the evolution of wind power as a remarkable technological journey. “Wind energy has been with us for millennia, but in the last 50 years, it entered a new era,” he said. “The 10m diameter turbines of my early professional life have become the 310m giants of today – simply amazing!”
He added that the recognition was “a wonderful bonus to an already fascinating career,” noting that both he and Stiesdal viewed the award as recognition for the wider engineering community. “Henrik and I see ourselves as representatives of a much bigger group of people who have made wind energy an essential part of our zero-carbon future,” Garrad said.
The 2025 Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering was awarded to seven pioneers in machine learning for their work advancing artificial intelligence.
Lord Vallance, chair of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, said both sets of laureates “represent the very best of engineering.” He added: “Together, their work demonstrates how engineering can both sustain our planet and transform the way we live and learn.”
Ahead of the ceremony, the laureates participated in a roundtable discussion at 10 Downing Street with UK Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Liz Kendall.
