Ground-Breaking Innovations Celebrated at the E&T Innovation Awards 2020 : Cutting edge advances in the fields of engineering and technology were celebrated at the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) virtual E&T Innovation Awards ceremony. Bethany Koby, Co-founder and CEO of Technology Will Save Us won the top prize, the E&T Leader of the Year Award, for her successful education toy company that produces kits on coding and related tech skills.

Growing the firm from her kitchen table to a worldwide operation across 97 countries, Bethany is on a mission to transform the next generation into ‘digital creators.’ The company has seen a 105% sales growth since the lockdown early this year, as parents shop online for fun and educational ways to keep their children occupied during these unprecedented times.

On winning, Bethany said: “I feel so honoured to have won this award. I want to thank the IET for this incredible acknowledgement and I am so grateful to all our team, community, advisors and other entrepreneurs who have supported me on this journey.

“I hope that in the future, education and technology are synonymous with a great learning experience for children. I strongly believe that the breadth of technology available to the education sector will create the most creative and competent generation in history.”

Other innovations that won prizes at this year’s awards included inventions to improve healthcare, develop the elderly’s digital skills and reduce CO2 emissions in supermarkets.

Now in its sixteenth year, the E&T Innovation Awards are the ultimate celebration for people, projects and organisations revolutionising our world through excellence in engineering and technology. This year’s event was co-hosted by Television Presenters, Maddie Moate and Greg Foot and due to the coronavirus pandemic, for the first time, the awards were held virtually, which meant they were open to the entire engineering and technology community.

IET President, Professor Danielle George said: “There has never been a more important time to recognise and celebrate the innovations that are bringing about real change and are helping to solve the global challenges we face today. In these uncertain times, we need innovators and creative minds from across all sectors to work together to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

“These annual awards celebrate the achievements of the most outstanding innovations across engineering and technology. The finalists this year all demonstrate the imagination of engineers worldwide and we are so proud to show our support for these exceptional minds. A huge congratulations to all our winners.”