When IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organisation, gathers its most honoured engineers and scientists each year, the ceremony tends to reflect decades of quiet, incremental work that most people never see but almost everyone depends on. This year, three engineers from Ericsson's Stockholm research team, Erik Dahlman, Stefan Parkvall and Johan Sköld, have been jointly awarded the IEEE Jagadish Chandra Bose Medal in Wireless Communications for their contributions to developing and standardising the cellular technologies that now define modern life. With more than 500,000 members across 190 countries, IEEE is the professional home of much of the world's engineering community. Recognition from the organisation carries particular weight because it comes from peers rather than industry bodies or governments. For Parkvall, the award prompted a moment of reflection he does not often allow himself.…