This week industrial engineer James Dyson stressed the role of science and engineering with the release of a new report entitled “Making the UK the leading high-tech exporter in Europe”.

Dyson – who is perhaps best known for his bagless vacuum cleaners – is calling for more investment and support for innovative engineering. Together with some of Britain’s most highly regarded industrial leaders, he has developed a number of policy recommendations which the next government should follow to make the UK more competitive and help the country leave the recession behind.

“We need to inspire and enlighten people: science and engineering can change lives, society and the economy,” said Dyson. “High tech exports create real wealth and jobs, and will help set us on a course for sustainable prosperity. If we don’t capitalize on our engineering expertise now there’ll be no turning back.”

The report suggests a stronger bond between universities and companies should be developed by changing the way education is structured. It says large scale projects must be put in place to prove the UK’s ability with high-tech infrastructure, claiming research and engineering has been ignored for decades in Britain.

I personally believe James Dyson is right. The UK has some inherent strengths. It’s the sixth largest manufacturing economy in the world, and has four of the top ten global universities. If they harness the best of both worlds, they can grow their high value add industries in a big way.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation