Lancaster graduate Dr Lucy Rogers has been awarded an MBE for services to engineering in the King’s Birthday Honours List.

Lucy was awarded her PhD in Engineering from Lancaster University in 2001 after graduating in Mechanical Engineering in 1995.

She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and is an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineering Designers. She received an Alumni award in 2019.

She said: “I am deeply honoured to receive this award from His Majesty and immensely grateful for the acknowledgment of the work done by engineers.”

Well known as a judge on the BBC’s popular Robot Wars series, her book, “It's Only Rocket Science: An Introduction in Plain English” has become a popular introduction to the subject in schools, universities and other institutions. Her work ranges from solving animatronic problems with fibreglass dinosaurs, to providing strategies to understand and counter the increasing challenges of space debris in satellite operations.

“I have worked with robot dinosaurs at a theme park, written a book on rocket science and had the amazing role of judging BBC Robot Wars. Here I witnessed the incredible innovation of engineers and inventors from all walks of life. The ingenuity, creativity and competitive spirit displayed on the show, as well as the comradery backstage, was truly inspiring.”

Lucy has found the skills and experience that she gained while studying at Lancaster particularly useful to her career, and highly values the industrial placement that she was able to undertake.

“I did a placement at Rolls Royce Industrial Power Group, working there during my holidays and for a year between my second and third year. If you can get sponsored by industry, I would advise you to do so!”

She hopes that her award will encourage others to pursue engineering as a career.

“We need more engineers if we are to address the challenges we face. Engineers use their skills and expertise to solve problems and improve lives. We are creative, and when we collaborate, great things happen. I’d like to see engineers more widely recognised and celebrated as this will encourage more young people into engineering.

“I chose engineering as it is fun. It mixes creativity with logic, problem solving with the ability to think laterally. I’ve met and worked with fascinating people and had the opportunity to do exciting and interesting things. I’d like to thank all those who have supported and encouraged me.”