Captain Jack Underwood Royal Logistic Corps receiving his Award from HRH The Princess Royal at the Engineers Trust Awards Dinner on 9 June 2026

Captain Jack Underwood RLC

During his postgraduate study in Explosive Ordnance Engineering, Jack has significantly contributed to defence explosive safety on behalf of 502 Specialist Team Royal Engineers (502 STRE). The primary aim of the project was to evaluate geotextiles as a method of blast mitigation in trenching systems and comparing them to existing methods of blast mitigation to establish if their addition to a trench system can reduce blast effects and subsequently improve the survivability of troops occupying them. In the context of the ongoing, attritional conflict in Ukraine which is being largely fought from trenches, this research is current and highly relevant.

To achieve this, he designed and conducted experimental trials involving purpose-built trenches with the addition of geotextile layers and sacrificial trenches. The experiments were scaled down to replicate the effects of a 152mm Russian artillery shell. A high-speed camera was used to capture detailed slow-motion footage, to record deformation of the trench walls when subjected to blast loading. This enabled measurements to be taken at key points to assess and quantify blast effects. The report showcased these findings and added further analysis into how the charge size, soil density and water content influence blast effects with the addition of frame-mounted geotextile liners.

This work has gone some way to quantify the efficacy of geotextile liners for blast mitigation in trench systems and has identified key constraints for its use and in further experimentation. His efforts to date have initiated a strand of work that will mature with separate firings, larger scale testing and far-field ground shock testing and modelling. In turn, the work has improved safety and reduced material costs of enhancing blast protection in trench systems. Jack is congratulated for initiating an exceptionally interesting area of study that will be of benefit to real world safety in the near future.

Awarded to an officer completing a postgraduate technical degree who has achieved overall academic excellence and contributed most to the advancement of technical knowledge or its application through a research project.

The Worshipful Company of Engineers, through its charitable arm the Engineers Trust, is honoured to recognise outstanding performance and leadership across all branches of the Armed Forces and their civilian engineering support teams. Awards were presented by HRH The Princess Royal at the Company’s Awards Dinner on 9th June 2026.

The Worshipful Company of Engineers Charitable Trust (the Engineers Trust) promotes the contributions of engineers to benefit society, education and research, and the relief of hardship and poverty.

Award photo courtesy of Mark Witter Photography