Baird of Bute awards for UofG engineers
Published: 10 September 2026
Two leading University of Glasgow engineers are set to be presented with awards recognising their contributions to cutting-edge research this week.
Two leading University of Glasgow engineers are set to be presented with awards recognising their contributions to cutting-edge research this week.
Professor Margaret Lucas and Professor Colin McInnes of the James Watt School of Engineering will receive Baird of Bute Awards at an event on the Isle of Bute on Friday 11 September.
Presented annually by the Baird of Bute Society, the awards honour Scots who have made significant contributions to science, technology and entrepreneurship.
The award is named after Andrew Blain Baird, a blacksmith from Rothesay who hand-built his own aircraft and made the first attempted all-Scottish powered flight on Bute in 1910.
Professor Lucas will receive the Baird of Bute Innovation award for applications of high-power ultrasonics from space exploration technology to medical devices.
Professor McInnes will be presented with the Baird of Bute Aviation award for pioneering contributions to ‘solar sailing’ and the delivery of green energy from space.
Professor Lucas’ award is for innovations in high-power ultrasonics. Professor Lucas’ research group harness energetic ultrasonic vibrations to create beneficial effects in target materials, by understanding the interactions between ultrasonic devices and target materials and creating novel devices.
Professor Lucas’ group has researched ultrasonics for a wide range of applications, including food processing, metal joining and planetary drilling. She is especially recognised for her group’s contributions to ultrasonic surgical devices, most recently delivering new miniaturised devices that can be integrated with surgical robot platforms for use in minimally invasive soft and hard tissue surgeries. The resulting innovations developed with colleagues led to a spin-out company, Nami Surgical.
Professor Lucas is Regius Chair of Civil Engineering and Mechanics and Professor of Ultrasonics. She said: "I'm pleased and proud to receive this award from the Baird of Bute Society and to accept it alongside Professor McInnes. I’m grateful for the Society’s recognition of the work I have done across my career to find valuable new applications for high-power ultrasonics, often working in close partnership with industries across many sectors. I am particularly proud of my group’s innovations in surgical devices and the potential to make real impact in robotic surgeries.”
Professor McInnes’ research on the development of solar sails, which use the pressure of sunlight for propulsion, could help enable new long-duration, high-energy space missions in the future. He also leads the SOLSPACE project, which explores the potential of constellations of solar reflectors in Earth orbit to reflect sunlight onto solar power plants, enabling the generation of clean energy after sunset.
Other research interests include future technologies for capturing small near-Earth asteroids for resource utilisation, as well as innovative approaches to in-space manufacturing.
Professor McInnes is James Watt Chair, Professor of Engineering Science, and Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies. He said: "It's a great honour to receive the Baird of Bute Aviation Award. Solar sailing and delivering clean energy from space are technologies which are increasingly within reach, and could deliver transformative benefits in the years to come, and I’m pleased that two University of Glasgow engineers have been selected by the Baird of Bute Society in 2026..”
The awards for Professor Lucas and Professor McInnes follow last year’s presentation of the Baird of Bute Innovation Award to Professor Sir James Hough of the School of Physics & Astronomy in recognition of his contributions to gravitational wave research.
Professors Lucas and McInnes will take part in the Lord Smith of Kelvin Lectures at the Winter Gardens Cinema on Friday 11 September, where they will be joined by Craig Clark, founder of Clyde Space Ltd and University of Glasgow alumnus and holder of an honorary degree. They will be presented with their awards at an event at the Glenburn Hotel later the same day.
First published: 10 September 2026