NTFs recognise individuals who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession. Professor Fornetti's award follows a Highly Commended nomination for Most Innovative Teaching of the Year at last year’s Times Higher Education Awards.

Since joining the academic team at Bristol, Professor Fornetti has extended his practice beyond his main area of expertise in Radio Frequency Engineering, bringing about a paradigm shift in electronic engineering pedagogy as a whole, to the benefit of thousands of students.

Among Professor Fornetti’s main pedagogical innovations are virtual laboratories that he created by identifying and developing the potential of an industry-standard simulation tool (AWR DE) as a teaching and learning tool. These make it possible to easily create virtual circuits and virtual instruments that closely resemble their lab counterparts and enable students to turn their laptops into ubiquitous experimentation facilities. In turn, this empowers them to let their creativity run free and to embark upon individual journeys of exploration that would not be possible with physical facilities alone.

Professor Fornetti’s work on virtual laboratories has influenced teaching practice in many institutions and has benefitted thousands of students and professionals worldwide through his YouTube channel, which has attracted more than 3,800 subscribers and has had over half a million views.

To complement his powerful virtual laboratories and ensure that students were able to develop practical laboratory skills, he also created home lab kits in 2015, comprising USB-powered instrumentation, that enabled them to perform lab exercises in their bedrooms. This work played a pivotal role since it supported the development of new home kits across the Faculty of Engineering that were not only pivotal during the trying pandemic years but are also now employed routinely to enable hundreds of students to develop essential skills.

Professor Fornetti said: “I am truly honoured to receive this prestigious accolade, which not only recognises the impact of my years of innovative pedagogical initiatives but also holds the potential to serve as a powerful springboard for disseminating my practices far and wide. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Tansy Jessop, Professor Alvin Birdi, and Dr Ros O’Leary for their support and for granting me this incredible opportunity. I am also deeply appreciative of the invaluable backing provided by the BILT team throughout the process. And of course, a huge thank you goes to the many students, academics and Professional Services staff who have supported me along this journey.”