Dame Karen Margaret Holford (born 1962) is a Welsh-domiciled engineer, professor of mechanical engineering and vice-chancellor and chief executive of

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

. She was formerly deputy

vice-chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

. She is also a former pro vice-chancellor of the College of Physical Sciences and Engineering and head of the School of Engineering. She is an active researcher of

acoustic emission Acoustic emission (AE) is the phenomenon of radiation of acoustic (elastic) waves in solids that occurs when a material undergoes irreversible changes in its internal structure, for example as a result of crack formation or plastic deformation due ...

and her work has been applied to damage assessment inspections on industrial components.

Education

Holford was educated at Newent Comprehensive School and read

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology The University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology (UWIST; ) was a public university college based in the centre of the city of Cardiff, Wales. In 1988, it merged with the University College Cardiff, which later became Cardiff University ...

with sponsorship from

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

and was the first member of her family to attend a higher education institution. She graduated with a

Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an undergraduate academic degree awarded to a college graduate majoring in an engineering discipline at a higher education institution. In the United Kingdom, a Ba ...

degree in 1984 followed by a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

University College, Cardiff Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

in 1987. This came after her school art teacher encouraged her to pursue the course, even though her careers advisor had discouraged her from studying engineering, which was perceived as a predominately male area. She later returned to Rolls-Royce.

Career and research

During her time at Rolls-Royce Holford contributed to the construction of the

Adour The Adour (; ; ) is a river in southwestern France. It rises in High- Bigorre ( Pyrenees), in the commune of Aspin-Aure, and flows into the Atlantic Ocean ( Bay of Biscay) near Bayonne. It is long, of which the uppermost ca. is known as the ' ...

and

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

engines with help from engineers across Europe and the United States and development work in advanced engineering. After completing the course Holford was employed at local company AB Electronic Products as a senior engineer. She became involved in project management for technical products which included the development and design of a thin film pressure sensor for

anti-lock braking system An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a Automotive safety, safety anti-Skid (automobile), skid Brake, braking system used on aircraft and on land motor vehicle, vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing t ...

s in

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

road cars. Holford also developed electronic products for

Jaguar Cars Jaguar (, ) is the sports car and luxury vehicle brand of Jaguar Land Rover, a British multinational corporation, multinational automaker, car manufacturer with its headquarters in Whitley, Coventry, England. Jaguar Cars was the company that ...

and Rover motor cars. She started her academic career in 1990 as an advisor at Cardiff University for their Integrated Engineering course, which aimed to increase industrial participation in degree teaching and provide a cross-discipline education, and was employed by the University in the same year as a lecturer in engineering. Holford has published over 170 research works, including 100 peer-reviewed journal papers. She has led research projects totalling over £7.5 million funded from a wide variety of sources, including

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British UK Research Councils, Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical scienc ...

(EPSRC),

Innovate UK Innovate UK is the United Kingdom's innovation agency, which provides money and support to organisations to make new products and services. It is a non-departmental public body operating at arm's length from the Government as part of the UK Res ...

Knowledge Transfer Partnerships Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP) is a partly government-funded programme to encourage collaboration between businesses and universities in the United Kingdom. History KTP was launched in 2003, replacing the Teaching Company Scheme (TCS), wh ...

(KTP),

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

and industry. Her primary research is damage assessment inspections using

(AE) applied across several industrial applications, including bridges, aerospace landing gear and composite materials, concrete and metals. Holford and her team later focussed on the improvement of AE damage location techniques, energy harvesting and embedded sensors aimed at the development of autonomous structural health monitoring systems. She also served as the faculty advisor for Cardiff University's

Formula Student Formula Student is a student engineering competition held annually. Student teams from around the world design, build, test, and race a small-scale formula style racing car. The cars are judged on a number of criteria. It is run by the Instit ...

team, an UpRising ambassador, and a Director of the Compound Semiconductor Centre. Outside of academia Holford entered the first rounds of the 2004 Formula Woman Championship behind the wheel of a

Caterham 7 The Caterham 7 (or Caterham Seven) is a super-lightweight sports car produced by Caterham Cars in the United Kingdom. It is based on the Lotus Seven, a lightweight sports car sold in kit and factory-built form by Lotus Cars, from 1957 to 1972. ...

External service

Holford has served as a council member for UKRI STFC and a member of the ESPRC Strategic Advisory Network, having previously served as the external chair of the EPSRC Engineering Strategic Advisory Team. In 2019 she joined the NPL Science and Technology Advisory Council, and in 2020, took up the role of chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering Research Committee. Holford is a leading advocate of engineering and is part of several committees and organisations that actively encourage young people to consider a career in the field. She is also chief executive and vice-chancellor at

Awards and honours

Holford's work has earned her several awards. In 2002 she was awarded a Royal Academy prize for 'Engineering Excellence' in TCS work. In 2006, she was a recipient of

Welsh Woman of the Year The Welsh Woman of the Year award was inaugurated in 1994 to honour high-achieving women in Wales. Its stated aim is "to promote the role women have in the workplace and in every sector of society". The award is sponsored by the National Assembly ...

in Science and Technology. She was awarded the WISE Excellence Award for “personal contribution to engineering and a long term commitment to supporting girls and young women in science and engineering” in 2007, and in 2016 won the

Chwarae Teg was a charity in Wales supporting the economic development of women, as well as working with businesses and organisations to develop and improve working practices. It ceased operation in 2023. History Chwarae Teg was launched by a consortium ...

Womenspire 'Women in Education' Award. Holford is a

Chartered Engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thr ...

, a Fellow of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 110,000 member ...

(FIMechE),

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Learned Society of Wales The Learned Society of Wales () is a national academy, learned society and Charitable organization, charity that exists to "celebrate, recognise, preserve, protect and encourage excellence in all of the scholarly disciplines", and to serve the W ...

(FLSW), Fellow of the

Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...

(FWES), and was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) is an award and Scholarship, fellowship for engineers who are recognised by the Royal Academy of Engineering as being the best and brightest engineers, inventors and technologists in United K ...

(FREng) in 2015. In 2016 she was named in the inaugural ''Daily Telegraph'''s list of the ''Top 50 Women in Engineering''. She won the

Suffrage Science award The Suffrage Science award is a prize for women in science, engineering and computing founded in 2011, on the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day by the MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences (LMS). There are three categories of awar ...

in 2019. She was appointed

Commander of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hono ...

and a Dame of the same order (DBE) in the

2024 Birthday Honours The 2024 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Charles III, King Charles III to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holford, Karen Living people Academics of Cardiff University Rolls-Royce people Fellows of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Fellows of the Learned Society of Wales Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century British women engineers Fellows of the Women's Engineering Society 1962 births Alumni of Cardiff University People associated with Cranfield University Welsh women engineers