Internationally recognised as a nuclear engineering expert, Dr Dame Sue Ion DBE FREng has received one of the Royal Academy of Engineering's most prestigious accolades - the President's Medal - for her outstanding service to the nuclear industry, the Academy itself and to the wider world of engineering.
Dame Sue has become the first woman to win the medal since it was inaugurated in 1987. She was presented with the award on Wednesday 02 July by Royal Academy of Engineering President Sir John Parker GBE FREng at the annual Academy Awards Dinner at London's Royal Opera House.
Dame Sue said:"Engineering excellence is so important to our national well being and international success so I am delighted to be able to contribute in any way I can. The more that can be done to incorporate sound engineering judgement and advice in evolving policy and the more that can be done to encourage the next generation of engineers the better."
As one of the UK's foremost nuclear engineers, Dame Sue was appointed Chair of the Nuclear Innovation Research Advisory Board by the Government in January 2014. She has served two terms between 2004 and 2011 on the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology, where her contributions were acknowledged as substantial in its energy-related work. She represents the UK on the European Commission EURATOM Science and Technology Committee and is an international member of the US Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee.
Academy President Sir John Parker said: "Our Academy - and the UK in general - has benefited hugely from Sue Ion's exceptional engineering expertise combined with an unerring ability to reduce complex technical concepts to plain language. This makes her an invaluable media spokesperson and a highly effective critic of ill-informed energy policy."
Dame Sue will be chairing NI's leading conference later this year on Small Modular Reactors in September 2014: find out more
Many thanks to RAEng for this news story.