After visiting shortlisted innovators Darktrace today (Thursday 27 July) at St John’s Innovation Park, he will go on to Raspberry Pi in Station Road, Cambridge - to meet the team who won the MacRobert Award, the UK’s premier award for engineering innovation.
Darktrace was shortlisted for its autonomous machine learning software, which detects and defends against cyber threats. Launched in 2013, Darktrace now operates in 60 countries with over 400 staff.
Raspberry Pi won the accolade for its credit card-sized microcomputers, which offer an easy-to-use and accessible way for people, particularly school pupils, better to learn about and engage with computers. Originally founded to increase the number of computer science applicants to the University of Cambridge, the company has since gone on to sell 14 million of its products. Its microcomputer currently helps 85,000 UK students learn coding, and is used to teach basic computing skills in 27 countries.
The winner was announced at this year’s Royal Academy of Engineering awards dinner in London on 29 June, receiving a gold medal and a £50,000 prize.
The success of Darktrace and Raspberry Pi follows the achievement of Endomag – another innovative Cambridge business shortlisted back in 2015, and RealVNC, which won the MacRobert Award in 2013.
Daniel Zeichner said: "Cambridge never fails to receive widespread recognition for its innovation and research. The global success of Darktrace is well deserved and, although it did not win this year, it has become a central part of Cambridge’s engineering scene.
"Raspberry Pi has shown with its microcomputer how cutting-edge technological research can have a major global impact."
Dr Dame Sue Ion, DBE, FREng, FRS, Chair of the MacRobert Award judging panel, added: "The annual MacRobert Award is presented to the engineers behind UK engineering’s most exciting innovation. Both Raspberry Pi and Darktrace – and our other finalist VisionRT – have significantly contributed to this legacy with their products. They demonstrate engineering’s benefit to society and are helping to solve real world problems."
‘These companies are at the cutting edge of UK innovation. They illustrate the importance of linking software and hardware applications in an increasingly digital world. They are also demonstrating that the UK is the best place to manufacture their products.’
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