The Prime Minster has launched the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering, which is a new global award to celebrate outstanding advances in engineering that have created a significant benefit to humanity.
The £1 million Prize will be awarded in the name of Her Majesty The Queen to an individual or team of up to three people, of any nationality, directly responsible for advancing the positive application of engineering knowledge.

The Prize will recognise and celebrate the very best of international talent and will be awarded every two years, with the first being presented in Spring 2013.

The Queen Elizabeth Engineering Prize was officially launched at London's Science Museum which was attended by the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition, to show cross-party support.

The fund behind it will be managed by an independent trust that is chaired by Lord Browne, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a former chief executive of BP.

The Prize is the result of a growing realisation within political, business and engineering circles of the need for a pioneering initiative based in the UK to focus attention on engineering worldwide.

Award organisers will not disclose how much money they have raised, saying only that they have received long-term commitments.

The Prime Minister, David Cameron said: 'I am delighted that the Queen has put her name to this prestigious prize, which I hope will carry the same stature as the Nobel Prizes.

'For too long Britain's economy has been over-reliant on consumer debt and financial services. We want to rebalance the economy so that Britain makes things again - high-skilled high-value manufacturing and engineering should be a central part of our long term future. I hope this prize will go some way to inspire and excite young people about engineering, so that they dream of becoming engineers as they once did in the age of Stephenson and Brunel.'

Commenting on the prize, Lord Browne, Chair of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation said: 'Engineering underpins every aspect of our lives. As the bridge between scientific discovery and commercial application, engineering feeds and clothes us, and enables us to work, travel and communicate. But too often the engineers behind the most brilliant innovations remain hidden. The Queen Elizabeth Prize aims to change that. It will celebrate, on an international scale, the very best engineering in the world.

Looking to the future he added: 'I believe that this prize will inspire the public, especially young people, with a sense of the excitement and the importance of engineering.'