On 23rd June, an Oxford event marking International Women in Engineering Day took place in the Thom Building first floor lecture theatre, bringing together industry professionals and researchers in engineering for an exciting day of presentations and talks.
Proceedings started with Infleqion, who provided background on their organisation and highlighted opportunities for early career researchers in quantum technologies. Next, Kayla Patel presented her work on sepsis detection in low and middle income countries, followed by Yiming Chen, who spoke about her work on ‘in‑world’ motion simulations. The final talk in the first section was by Samrina Patel who talked through her career journey from pharmacist to industry consultant, emphasising the value of field experience when transitioning into a consultancy role in medical technology.
Poster presentations took place over refreshments and an opportunity to engage with fellow attendees. IBME had good representation from researchers presenting their work.
Thalia Seale talked me through her research in myocardial infarction (heart attack) detection, focusing on how men and women present cardiovascular issues differently. Women pump blood at different rates, raising the question of whether standard measurements predict risk factors equally across sexes. Her work is based on UK Biobank data, drawing from a large dataset and narrowing it to a relevant subset of participants. By looking in detail at the motion patterns of the heart from MRI, her findings suggest that women experience different kinds of cardiac dysfunction, which may be more difficult to detect using standard clinical metrics. Heart geometry is an important indicator, and tracking how it changes over time could lead to earlier detection of heart attack risk in women. She noted that more representative data is needed to validate this approach, particularly increased female anatomical data and further clinical trials. Reflecting on the event, Thalia said, “It is great to bring women together to share different perspectives. Women are still underrepresented in engineering, and as someone at an early stage in my career, it is very inspiring to see the achievements of others in the field.”
Emily Peacock from IBME’s Noble Group, discussed her work applying AI to predict baby weight in utero. She uses real world datasets, which present challenges such as missing data and limitations in imaging technology, particularly in capturing a complete picture of pregnancy through ultrasound. Despite this, predicting baby weight can help stratify risk earlier and reduce complications associated with high and low birth weight. Emily reflected on the importance of events like this, saying, “We need more events like this, as often as possible. Women’s issues are being talked about more than ever, but there is still much more work to be done.”
Indumita Prakash discussed her work on deriving quantitative cerebral blood flow over time using MRI. Her research aims to improve the measurement of cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), which reflects how well the brain regulates its blood supply. As impaired CVR has been linked to dementia and other neurodegenerative diseases, these quantitative measurements could support earlier detection of cerebrovascular dysfunction and guide the development of more accessible methods for assessing brain health. Commenting on the panel discussion, Indumita said, “The panel was very inspiring. It was great to hear from industry professionals, and to recognise that imposter syndrome is real. It is encouraging to know that we are all working to make a difference.”
More talks followed, Maike Lenz, DPhil candidate, spoke about her work in imaging living neurons, and there were career talks from Oracle and Prysmian. Professor Deborah Greaves shared her career journey from civil engineering to specialising in fluid‑structure computational dynamics. She noted that women made up just 5% of the engineering workforce in the 1980s, compared with around 16% today, highlighting the progress that has been made while emphasising that there is still much work to do. The keynote speaker, Yasmin Ali, spoke about her career in the energy sector, from growing up in Baghdad where energy was scarce, to working in oil and gas and offshore rigs, and later transitioning into sustainable energy and improving domestic heat efficiency. She encouraged young female engineers to face challenges directly and pursue solutions rather than waiting for them to appear.
The day concluded with a panel Q&A featuring Professor Tingting Zhu (IBME), Minal Patel, Programme Director in Digital Transformation at NHS England, and Samrina Bhatti, Consulting Director at PwC UK.
Tingting shared her background and what drew her into academia, before leading a discussion on key challenges in healthcare technology. The panel emphasised the importance of designing resilient systems, with Tingting highlighting the need to balance sensitivity and reliability in clinical decision support tools so that clinicians can trust and act on the outputs. Minal Patel stressed that strong data standards and involving both clinicians and patients in solution design are essential, while Samrina Bhatti noted that resilience in healthcare systems requires interdisciplinary collaboration.
The discussion also addressed trust in AI and global implementation. Tingting emphasised the need to align mathematical models with clinical practice, ensuring systems are reliable and reproducible. Minal highlighted the importance of patient education and robust data collection, while Samrina pointed to the potential for AI to improve efficiency and free up clinician time. On global challenges, the panel discussed barriers such as data collection and resource constraints, with potential solutions including wearable technologies and greater international collaboration.
The panel concluded with careers advice for early career researchers and professionals, encouraging them to develop both breadth and depth of expertise, remain curious, and seek opportunities across both academia and industry. Samrina highlighted the importance of taking risks and building confidence, while Tingting reflected on the different strengths offered by academic and industry career paths.
All of the day’s sessions were engaging and prompted thoughtful discussion among attendees. Speaking after the event, Tingting Zhu said, “It was incredibly encouraging to see how closely aligned academia, industry, and the NHS are in digital health. We share the exact same goal – building safe and resilient systems. I look forward to deepening these cross-sector collaborations to ensure our technology reaches the frontline.”
Thank you to all IBME participants and attendees. We look forward to seeing you represent IBME at future Oxford events.