IST Fellow Laurence Dawkins-Hall, BSc, CBiol, FIScT, FRSB, has been honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Lifetime Award at the 2024 Lab Innovations Lab Awards. Congratulations to Laurence on this prestigious recognition.
In addition to this lifetime award, Laurence received his second consecutive nomination for the Commitment to Skills and Training award, reflecting his enduring dedication and substantial contributions to advancing the technical sector.
Recently, Laurence’s expertise was showcased in UK Industry’s Call to Government (Lab Innovations/Advanced Engineering BE), where he authored the piece Upskilling a Nation. Here, he addresses the pressing STEM skills shortage, offering solutions including the strengthening of apprenticeships, expansion of the Technician Commitment initiative, and enhanced regional collaboration.
IST Chair and CEO, Terry Croft MBE congratulated Laurence with the following:
“We are delighted to hear that one of our colleagues and esteemed Fellows has been given the Outstanding Achievement Award at this year’s Lab Innovations – Lab Awards event. Over many years, he has demonstrated a strong passion and commitment to the professionalisation of the technical workforce through his work with the Science Council and the IST. Laurence’s dedication goes above and beyond what would normally be expected, as he devotes his free time to a wide range of technician support activities.
His work in mentoring and supporting registration applications is extensive and widely recognised. Not only does he bring a broad range of expertise to his support work, but he also offers a high degree of enthusiasm and a genuine willingness to go the extra mile. Laurence has shown remarkable commitment, passion, and drive in supporting the technical community at large, making an impact on many careers.
We are proud that one of our Fellows has been recognised for their excellent contribution to the development of the technical workforce. My colleagues at the IST and I, would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations on this prestigious award, which is so richly deserved”.
Laurence commented that:
“This award is predicated not just on my work for the Technician commitment over the last 8 years in particular, but also my contributions to report, blogs and journal articles, describing the working landscape of UK based technicians and how that has changed over the 40 years of my career; How these changes have impacted on the recruitment and retention of technicians over that time period; and the inception of the Technician commitment to address recruitment and retention problems.
I am thrilled, humbled and honoured to receive this distinguished award. This is not just based on the intrinsic merit of the accolade itself, but the light it shines on all issues pertaining to the current “Recruitment and retention crisis” within the current technical sector and the specific work that myself and others like me carry out to tackle this existential crisis”.
Laurence’s commitment continues to inspire the technical community. Congratulations, Laurence, on this well-earned honour, and thank you for your invaluable contributions to our field!
