UofG researcher wins top award from Royal Academy of Engineering
Published: 15 July 2025
A University of Glasgow engineer has received a prestigious award from the Royal Academy of Engineering for exceptional achievement during the early stages of his career.
A University of Glasgow engineer has received a prestigious award from the Royal Academy of Engineering for exceptional achievement during the early stages of his career.
Dr Mahmoud Wagih was presented with the Sir George Macfarlane Medal at the Academy’s annual Awards Dinner in London on 8 July. He received the medal in recognition for demonstrated excellence through the development of novel sustainability-driven electronic systems and through active advocacy and public engagement for engineering.
Dr Wagih also received a £3,000 cash prize as one of the RAEng Engineers Trust Young Engineers of the Year, a prize for early-career UK engineers, supported by the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
Dr Mahmoud Wagih with with Penny B Taylor, Master of the Worshipful Company of Engineers
During a degree in electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Southampton, Dr Wagih completed a research internship in radio frequency engineering. He then studied for a PhD incorporating antennas into clothing to make wirelessly charging wearable devices.
He worked in industry at chip designer Arm and then moved to the University of Glasgow, where he now runs a large, interdisciplinary team that makes up the Green Electronics Lab.
His work developing wireless power and sensing technologies that could pave the way to maintenance-free smart devices. This includes biodegradable circuits and a trial of over 1,000 prototype battery-free smart socks for at-home healthcare monitoring. He has also founded a startup called RX Watt to make chips for sustainable long-range wireless device charging.
Dr Wagih, who is Lecturer at the James Watt School of Engineering, said: “My research experience dates to my undergraduate project, designing the first Bluetooth antennas and circuits for insoles, allowing continuous tracking for step counting. My favourite engineering moment continues to be receiving a device that I, or a team member, designed for the first time. It’s always a long-anticipated moment that gets me instantly into the lab.
“I am grateful to the Academy for the recognition through the Sir George MacFarlane Medal. It is also special that the award is named after a wireless/radar pioneer, who first studied in Glasgow.”
Dr Mahmoud Wagih with members of the Macfarlane family
Supporting Dr Wagih for the award, Professor William Whittow, Professor in Radiofrequency Materials at the Loughborough University, said: “Mahmoud is an all-round outstanding researcher and academic; this relates to all aspects of his work including experiments, developing analytical theory, developing innovative techniques to solve problems, networking with industry, outreach, and having a vision for long term opportunities. He is driven by his passion to solve problems and make a difference to society.
The Sir George Macfarlane Medal is named after one of the Academy's founding Fellows, Sir George Macfarlane, whose groundbreaking work during the Second World War enabled the introduction of radar for guiding bombers and spotting U-boats. After the war he was instrumental in guiding government research and overseeing the introduction of optical fibre and digital technology into telecommunications. His work with the Academy focused on engineering education and links between universities and industry.
First published: 15 July 2025