2026 Awards

We are pleased to be hosted by the Royal Agricultural University for our Awards Presentation Day on 29th April this year.  We will be in the historic Tithe Barn to celebrate success in the agricultural engineering and land-based community, where our new President, Kit Franklin will present the Awards.

We are delighted that Dame Fiona Reynolds the Chair of the RAU's Governing Council will welcome us all.

For his first President's Address Kit has organised a talk from Beverley Gibbs entitled “Making the Invisible Visible” in which she will explore how agriculture and engineering run on people who think differently. This keynote cuts through the myths about neurodivergence and shows why recognising the minds already in our teams is one of the smartest moves our sectors can make.

Beverley is an engineering education leader and systems thinker who works on workforce futures and the conditions that help people and places thrive. She has led innovative engineering programmes at the Dyson Institute, NMITE, UCL and the University of Sheffield, and now works independently across research, advisory and thought leadership roles. She co designed a neuroinclusion framework for engineering education with the Engineering Professors’ Council, working alongside neurodivergent students, academic staff and professional services specialists, and served on the steering group for the IET’s Engineering Neurodivergent Futures programme.

The programme for the day is as follows and we hope members can join us to celebrate.

10.15am - Arrival & Coffee
10.45am - Welcome from Dame Fiona Reynolds & Presentation of Awards
12.00noon  - President's Address - Dr Beverley Gibbs PhD CEng FIET
12.30pm  -  Lunch (sandwiches etc)
1.30pm     - Talk and tours
3pm         - Close