Inspirational People

As part of our RIED Research Culture, we are committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. To promote such thinking and awareness amongst the RIED team, our Partners and anyone who may visit our RIED website, we are posting the stories of people who have made inspirational and highly significant contributions to Science and Engineering. The people and stories included is being released and will be built up over time. We hope you will find it thought provoking and an inspiration to us all. Click on the pictures to find out more about these amazing scientists and engineers.

  • The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008 Born: 30 July 1947, Paris, France Affiliation at the time of the award: Regulation of Retroviral Infections Unit, Virology Department, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France Prize motivation: “for their discovery of human immunodeficiency…

  • Henry (aka Harry) George Ferguson (4 November 1884 – 25 October 1960) was a British mechanic and inventor who is noted for his role in the development of the modern agricultural tractor and its three point linkage system going back to 1920 and its subsequent improvements…

  • Farida Nana Efua Bedwei (born 6 April 1979) is a Ghanaian software engineer and cofounder of Logiciel, a fin-tech company in Ghana. Farida Bedwei has built mobile and enterprise applications, and is also known for her knowledge of software architecture, and deploying mobile services, particularly for banking applications. Farida Bedwei began…

  • Sir Stanley George Hooker, CBE, FRS,DPhil, BSc, FRAeS, MIMechE,FAAAS (30 September 1907 – 24 May 1984), was a mathematician and engineer. He was employed first at Rolls-Royce in 1938 where he was instrumental in the design of superchargers for the Merlin engines used in the iconic Spitfire…

  • The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009 Born: 26 November 1948, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Affiliation at the time of the award: University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA Prize motivation: “for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by…

  • Alan Turing OBE FRS (23 June 1912 - 7 June 1954) is surely one of the most influential scientists of modern times leaving a legacy which we still benefit from today. He was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst,…

  • Inaugural Wolf Prize award in Physics in 1978. May 31, 1912 – February 16, 1997 Chien-Shiung Wu was a Chinese-American particle and experimental physicist who made significant contributions in the fields of nuclear and particle physics. Chien-Shiung Wu worked on the Manhattan Project, where she helped develop the process…

  • Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee OM KBE FRS FREng FRSA DFBCS RDI (born 8 June 1955) is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web in 1989. In recognition of his work, in 1998/1999 he was named in Time magazine's list of the 100 Most Important People of the…

  • The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1964 Born: 12 May 1910, Cairo, Egypt Died: 29 July 1994, Shipston-on-Stour, United Kingdom Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Oxford, Royal Society, Oxford, United Kingdom Prize motivation: “for her determinations by…

  • Marine Scientist Dr. Dijanna Figueroa, the “Deep Ocean Doctor,” is a marine scientist and educator who works extensively to make STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) education more accessible to all children. She is currently Chief Academic Officer for Black Girls…

  • The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1995 Born: 20 October 1942, Magdeburg, Germany Affiliation at the time of the award: Max-Planck-Institut für Entwicklungsbiologie, Tübingen, Germany Prize motivation: “for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development” Work…

  • The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2009 Born: 15 April 1961, San Diego, CA, USA Affiliation at the time of the award: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA Prize motivation: “for the discovery of how chromosomes…

  • The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2018 Born: 25 July 1956, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Affiliation at the time of the award: California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, CA, USA Prize motivation: “for the directed evolution of enzymes”   Work Evolution –…

  • Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1983 Born: 16 June 1902, Hartford, CT, USA Affiliation at the time of the award: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA Prize motivation: “for her discovery of mobile genetic elements”  …

  • The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2009 Born: 22 June 1939, Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel) Affiliation at the time of the award: Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel Prize motivation: “for studies of the structure and function of…

  • The Nobel Prize in Physics 2018 Born: 27 May 1959, Guelph, Canada Affiliation at the time of the award: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada Prize motivation: “for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses” Work The sharp beams of…

  • The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2014  Born: 4 January 1963, Fosnavåg, Norway  Affiliation at the time of the award: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway  Prize motivation: “for their discoveries of cells that constitute a…