The Engineers Trust has announced the winner of its 2016 Hawley Award for Engineering Innovation that benefits the Environment. Solveiga Pakštaitė has been awarded the £5,000 cash prize for her project “Bump Mark: the bio-reactive food expiry label”. 

Bump Mark is a patent-pending food expiry labelling innovation, invented by Solveiga while studying at Brunel University London. It is currently being developed at Central Research Laboratory, in Hayes, West London, supported by U+I, Brunel University London and HEFCE. It is a bio-reactive solution calibrated to experience decay at the same rate as the food it is labelling to provide accurate, real-time indications of the product’s freshness. It will enable radical reductions in premature disposal of food by providing a more accurate indication of its “safe-to-use-by” date.

From a shortlist of four innovative submissions for this year’s award, the panel of experienced senior engineer Liverymen were impressed by Solveiga’s innovation, her successful trials to prove that Bump Mark works, and her plans for commercial application. She was presented with her award at the Worshipful Company of Engineers’ Annual Awards Dinner, held at the Royal College of Surgeons in London, on 19 July.

Solveiga said: “I am delighted that my design for a more accurate way of checking the freshness of food has been recognised by such a prestigious engineering organisation. I’m so pleased that the judges were open-minded enough to consider such an unusual project as the winner of this award. The award will help to carry out external lab tests that are needed to validate the technology before it goes out on the market.”

Barry Brooks, Hawley Award Co-ordinator for the Engineers Trust (the charitable arm of the Worshipful Company of Engineers), added: “As in previous years, this award attracted some fascinating examples of the innovative work that is being undertaken across the UK to apply science and engineering to solving problems that affect our environment. Whilst other submissions this year offer good prospects for the future, Solveiga’s case stood out as a perfect example of how our young engineer designers are developing their own ideas, using robust entrepreneurial skills, to overcome a huge unnecessary waste of food.” 

Andrew Ward, Director of Corporate Relations, Brunel University London, said: “Sol is one of the outstanding entrepreneurs to emerge from Brunel recently. Her disruptive and socially necessary product is a great example of the value-driven but commercially savvy projects that are essential for Britain to maintain its position as the innovation centre of the world. We are grateful to the Hawley Award, the Engineers Livery Company and the Engineers Trust for making this award.”

The campaign to find the 2017 Hawley Award winner will launch in September 2016.

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For press enquiries and image requests

1. Design By Sol Ltd: (http://www.designbysol.co.uk/) Solveiga Pakštaitė, Founder solveiga@designbysol.co.uk telephone: 0791 489 4331
2. Worshipful Company of Engineers & The Engineers Trust: The Clerk, clerk@engineerscompany.co.uk telephone: 020 7726 4820
3. Engineering Council: Lucie Richards, Senior Communications Executive LRichards@engc.org.uk telephone: 020 3206 0560
4. Brunel University London: Mark Howard, howard@brunel.ac.uk telephone: 01895 267045 

Notes for editors

The Fiona and Nicholas Hawley Award was established in 2006 and is made annually to recognise excellent work in “Engineering Innovation that benefits the Environment” by an early career stage engineer or scientist, resident of the UK, graduate or more senior member of a recognised engineering institution. The Hawley Award is aimed at inspiring younger engineers who can best demonstrate the application of proven technology which they have developed at least to prototype stage, with an expectation of commercial development to have positive benefits to the environment.

The Engineers Trust (http://engineerstrust.org.uk/) is the charitable trust of the Worshipful Company of Engineers (www.engineerscompany.org.uk) (one of the City of London’s modern Livery Companies with over 300 members) promoting the development and advancement of the science, art and practice of engineering. The Trust Fund gives annual awards and prizes to support and encourage excellence amongst qualified engineers and those training to be Chartered Engineers, Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians.

The Award is supported by the Engineering Council, which holds the national Register of over 222,000 Engineering Technicians (EngTech), Incorporated Engineers (IEng), Chartered Engineers (CEng) and Information and Communication Technology Technicians (ICTTech). The organisation also sets and maintains the internationally recognised standards of competence and ethics that govern the award and retention of these titles. By this means, it is able to ensure that employers, government and wider society, both at home and overseas, can have confidence in the skills and commitment of registrants. For more information, please visit www.engc.org.uk

Design By Sol Ltd is a growing freelance design studio company founded by Solveiga Pakštaitė in 2014, providing innovative design services of a wide scope, as well as developing in-house projects. Disciplines include: Industrial & Product design; Packaging design; Graphic design & information architecture; User experience design.

Brunel University London is a world-class university based in Uxbridge, West London, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary. Home to 14,000 students from over 100 countries worldwide, the University’s mission has always been to combine academic rigour with the practical, entrepreneurial and imaginative approach pioneered by its namesake Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Widely recognised for its commitment to business engagement, the University provides the research-based teaching and enhanced learning experience that equips students to perform effectively in the workplace and as citizens. Creating an environment where innovation can flourish is central to Brunel’s purpose.