The Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences (FEPS) is celebrating two outstanding team wins at the 2026 Vice-Chancellor’s Awards, announced at a ceremony hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Charlie Jeffery at the Hilton Southampton Utilita Bowl on Friday 2 October.

The FEPS Teaching Laboratories Team won the Making It Happen award for delivering three specialist teaching laboratories across Buildings 1, 25 and 32. The team, some pictured above with Professor Michael Butler Dean of FEPS,— Andrew Giles, Cleome Orrell, David Oakley, Jennie Calder Smith, Jake Batizovszky (Provelio), Katie Chamberlain, Paula Smith, Phil Reed, Sue Jenkins, Tommy Poll and Vanessa Whittlesey — worked with Estates and Facilities colleagues to respond to growing demand in Engineering and Electronics and Computer Science. Their refurbishment programme has expanded capacity for Aerospace and Astronautics, Mechanical Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, while also improving research and collaborative spaces for ECS doctoral students.

The Rail Research Group received the Triple Helix award, pictured above with the Professor Michael Butler, Dean of FEPS. The group includes Rod Anderson, Professor David Richards and Professor William Powrie, alongside their research colleagues and students. Over more than two decades, the group has advanced the resilience, efficiency and sustainability of the UK rail network, connecting research with education and practical industry impact. Its work has improved understanding of how ageing rail infrastructure can be maintained, helped save billions of pounds of public money, and drawn on expertise from the UKCRIC National Infrastructure Laboratory, the Tony Davies High Voltage Laboratory and the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research.

FEPS was also represented by two runners-up in the Knowledge Exchange and Enterprise category: Professor Nicola Symonds and nC2, and the Cryogenics Team. Congratulations to both on this well-deserved recognition.

These awards recognise the breadth of FEPS impact: from creating high-quality learning and research environments for today’s students and staff, to delivering long-term research that benefits industry, infrastructure and society. Congratulations to both teams on this well-deserved recognition.