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Previous WE50 winner profiles
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Professor Karen Holford, mechanical engineer and WE50 winner in 2016
Interview by Anne Hall
Karen with the Cardiff Racing Formula student car, designed, built, tested and raced by Cardiff University students. Karen started the Cardiff Racing team in 2001 and it has entered a new car into the international competition every year since 2002
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Nothing less than two of the most historic events of the 20th century inspired Professor Karen Holford to pursue a career in engineering.
She was at primary school in 1969 when Concorde, the world’s first supersonic aeroplane took its maiden flight. As if that wasn’t enough, 1969 was also the year that the crew of Apollo 11 first set foot on the moon. “I remember having lots of questions about how Concorde and Apollo 11 were designed, and I found out that these two amazing events were made possible by engineers.” Professor Holford was named as one of the UK’s most influential female engineers in 2016, the inaugural year of the WE50 Awards from the Women’s Engineering Society. In 2018, she received a CBE for services to Engineering and the Advancement of Women in Science and Engineering. |
Karen’s career began at Rolls Royce in Bristol where she completed an undergraduate apprenticeship, reading Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology (UWIST). She followed that with a PhD in Acoustic Emission, something which remains one of her major research interests today.
In 1990, she joined Cardiff University’s School of Engineering as a lecturer and was appointed Director of the School in 2010. She is now Deputy Vice Chancellor at the university and, as a senior academic in the field of engineering, believes that reaching children of all ages - and their parents - is vital. “Girls continue to out-perform boys in STEM subjects at GCSE but much more needs to be done to help them understand at a young age how engineering has an impact on lives and what engineers actually do. Then it’s about retaining that interest when they start making career choices.”
Karen feels strongly that if students understand that engineers are the people who can make a big difference to other people’s lives, attitudes to the profession would change. “If you think about it, engineers are the ones concerned with water security, clean energy and combatting global warming. We install solar panels in remote African health outposts so that people have access to electricity and solar fridges to store life-saving vaccines. We design better sanitation systems for refugees, clever bike lights to make cycling safer, innovative tools to help disabled people live fuller lives. What’s more we work hard to ensure that our products are sustainable by reducing the use of plastics and developing biodegradable alternatives Plus, of course, we also design and build amazingly fast Formula One racing cars, pretty exciting stuff and much of the technology developed with racing cars can be applied to improving fuel economy in conventional transport.”
As she looks to the future, Karen can see that change is already happening in terms of encouraging more women into engineering. In 2015-16, she co-authored a report called Talented Women for a Successful Wales, advising the Welsh Government on how to recruit, retain and promote women in STEM. She notes that so many positive things have happened since that report was produced. “I meet far more girls interested in engineering than ever before, yet there are some key things which still need work. It’s vital that we make the most of these small changes and work together to ensure that all of the various initiatives are joined up.”
Professor Holford’s message is to parents, teachers and the companies that employ both female and male engineers. “The stumbling blocks are there from a very young age, such as girls not being given toy trains and cars to play with. It may sound like a small thing, but unconscious stereotyping is still holding girls back, without them even realising it. Secondary schools must ensure that teachers have the critical skills to teach the subjects needed for a career in engineering. Some physics teachers for example, don’t even have Physics A-Level themselves. Finally, companies need to do much more to promote flexible working for both men and women. This way we can ensure that the burden of childcare is equally shared so that women aren’t out of the workplace for long periods. If we can solve these problems, I believe we’ll see a big increase in women choosing engineering careers and, even better, staying in engineering careers.”
In 1990, she joined Cardiff University’s School of Engineering as a lecturer and was appointed Director of the School in 2010. She is now Deputy Vice Chancellor at the university and, as a senior academic in the field of engineering, believes that reaching children of all ages - and their parents - is vital. “Girls continue to out-perform boys in STEM subjects at GCSE but much more needs to be done to help them understand at a young age how engineering has an impact on lives and what engineers actually do. Then it’s about retaining that interest when they start making career choices.”
Karen feels strongly that if students understand that engineers are the people who can make a big difference to other people’s lives, attitudes to the profession would change. “If you think about it, engineers are the ones concerned with water security, clean energy and combatting global warming. We install solar panels in remote African health outposts so that people have access to electricity and solar fridges to store life-saving vaccines. We design better sanitation systems for refugees, clever bike lights to make cycling safer, innovative tools to help disabled people live fuller lives. What’s more we work hard to ensure that our products are sustainable by reducing the use of plastics and developing biodegradable alternatives Plus, of course, we also design and build amazingly fast Formula One racing cars, pretty exciting stuff and much of the technology developed with racing cars can be applied to improving fuel economy in conventional transport.”
As she looks to the future, Karen can see that change is already happening in terms of encouraging more women into engineering. In 2015-16, she co-authored a report called Talented Women for a Successful Wales, advising the Welsh Government on how to recruit, retain and promote women in STEM. She notes that so many positive things have happened since that report was produced. “I meet far more girls interested in engineering than ever before, yet there are some key things which still need work. It’s vital that we make the most of these small changes and work together to ensure that all of the various initiatives are joined up.”
Professor Holford’s message is to parents, teachers and the companies that employ both female and male engineers. “The stumbling blocks are there from a very young age, such as girls not being given toy trains and cars to play with. It may sound like a small thing, but unconscious stereotyping is still holding girls back, without them even realising it. Secondary schools must ensure that teachers have the critical skills to teach the subjects needed for a career in engineering. Some physics teachers for example, don’t even have Physics A-Level themselves. Finally, companies need to do much more to promote flexible working for both men and women. This way we can ensure that the burden of childcare is equally shared so that women aren’t out of the workplace for long periods. If we can solve these problems, I believe we’ll see a big increase in women choosing engineering careers and, even better, staying in engineering careers.”
WE50 awards in previous years have included:
2019 - Current and Former Apprentices
2018 – Returners and Transferrers
2017 – Under 35
2016 – The inaugural Top 50 Women in Engineering
2019 - Current and Former Apprentices
2018 – Returners and Transferrers
2017 – Under 35
2016 – The inaugural Top 50 Women in Engineering
