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Professor Karen M. Holford FREng is a Welsh engineer and academic, currently Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Physical Sciences and Engineering at Cardiff University (having previously been Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Head of the School of Engineering). She is an active researcher into acoustic emission and her work has been applied to damage assessment inspections on industrial components.
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Biography
Holford read mechanical engineering at Cardiff University with sponsorship from Rolls-Royce and was the first member of her family to attend a higher education institution. 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 where she was persuaded to complete a PhD course. During her time at Rolls-Royce Holford contributed to the construction of the Adour and Pegasus 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 systems in BMW road cars. Holford also developed electronic products for Jaguar 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 160 research papers and over 80 peer-reviewed journals. She has led research projects totaling over £7.5 million funded from a wide variety of sources, including EPSRC, Innovate UK, KTP, EU and industry. Her primary research is damage assessment inspections using acoustic emission (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 team and is currently a member of the EPSRC Strategic Advisory Network, 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.
Awards
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 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 Womenspire 'Women in Education' Award.
Holford is a Chartered Engineer (Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers), Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, Fellow of the Womens' Engineering Society, and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2015. In 2016 she was named in the inaugural Daily Telegraph's list of the '50 Most Influential Women in Engineering.'