Ricardo receives Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation Award

The Worshipful Company of Carmen of London recognizes Ricardo for ‘outstanding work in extending the frontiers of achievement, and the pursuit of excellence, in the field of transport worldwide.’

The award was presented at a dinner of the Worshipful Company of Carmen, a Livery Company of the City of London founded in 1517, whose key modern charitable aim is ‘to promote fellowship among those engaged in the trade of transport.’ The Sir Henry Royce Foundation award has been presented each year since 1983, primarily to recognise events in the sphere of transport, of national or international significance, involving skill, dedication or technical perfection of the highest order, in conformity with the untiring pursuit of excellence that was the philosophy of Sir Henry Royce, the engineering genius behind Rolls-Royce.

The award citation reflects Ricardo’s own long and proud history: it was given ‘in recognition of over a century of this British company's world-leading technology in automotive engineering and transportation, including the 1917 battle tank engine, the turbulent side valve cylinder head of 1921 used almost universally until the 1940s, and the Comet diesel combustion chamber, developed in 1931 – the design standard until the eighties. Post war Ricardo developed the Harwell Air Pollution Model, 4WD viscous couplings for rally cars, the Bugatti Veyron transmission and V8 engines for McLaren road cars.’

“I was honoured to be able to accept the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation award on behalf of Ricardo,” commented Ricardo chief technology and innovation officer Professor Neville Jackson. “This is a great accolade for the entire Ricardo global organization and one that reflects the hard work and commitment to excellence in engineering and technology shown by the whole company. It is also an honour of which I am sure our founder, Sir Harry Ricardo, would have been proud.”