Advancing Women: The role of allies, leaders and organisations

Dr Emma Hellawell CEng

Emma is a Chartered Civil Engineer with 30 years’ experience across the civil and geoenvironmental engineering sector. She is a recognised specialist in the carbon assessment of foundations and groundworks. Her work centres on helping organisations understand and reduce embodied carbon in below‑ground construction, with a focus on practical, evidence‑based approaches to sustainability.

She is currently working independently, developing new digital tools to support carbon reduction in ground engineering and is also an Associate Tutor at the University of Surrey. This follows a varied career that has included academic research, civil engineering consultancy, university lecturer and contaminated land regulation.

Emma has contributed to major projects such as the Millennium Site in Greenwich, authored industry guidance, and undertaken research on digital twins for brownfield remediation, traffic‑related air pollution and asbestos contamination on redevelopment sites. She previously held a Daphne Jackson Fellowship and has recently received several industry awards, including being named one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering by the Women’s Engineering Society, recognising both her sustainable engineering work and her wider contribution to the profession

Dr John Singleton

The first member of his family to go to university, John Singleton studied Physics at Oxford, where he was inspired by the teaching of Mary O'Brien, Gillian Gehring and others. After a D.Phil. in semiconductors sponsored by GEC, and a postdoc funded by Philips, he joined the High Field Magnet Laboratory at the University of Nijmegen, where he worked to help enlarge the user community. Returning to Oxford University as a Lecturer (later Reader) in Physics, he co-founded a large condensed-matter physics/materials science research group that persists to this day, and which has produced a substantial number of women scientists. In 2002, he moved to the Pulsed-Field Facility of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where currently he serves as the Leader of the Magnet Operation Science and Technology Team, working in both Electrical Engineering and Materials Science.

A visiting professor at Oxford University and fellow of the American Physical Society and Institute of Physics, John has authored or co-authored over 500 papers in scientific journals, along with a popular undergraduate textbook. Throughout his career he has been passionate about promoting diversity and inclusivity in science via outreach and through the students, postdocs, technicians and technologists that he has taught and mentored.

Dr Kate Fox CEng FIMMM

Associate Fellow Light Alloys, Rolls-Royce plc.

Kate Fox has 32 years’ experience working as a Materials Engineer in the Manufacturing Industry. Over this time, she has worked on all materials aspects of design, manufacturing, alloy development, and in-service experience.  She has both managed a team of people and performed a Technical Specialist role. She now works as an Associate Fellow on Light Alloys and has particular expertise in the materials aspects of high-duty safety-critical aero-engine applications.  She was awarded the Harvey Flower Award by IOM3 in 2018 and is the elected Midlands Regional Representative on the IOM3 Advisory Council and vice-chair of the Local Affairs Committee and a committee member of East Midlands Materials Society. Kate has two grown-up sons and worked part-time for a number of years before returning to full-time work. She is a strong advocate for EDI and is currently EDI lead for an EPSRC Prosperity Partnership Programme in which Rolls-Royce is a partner (ARCANE).

Martha Needs

Senior Geotechnical Engineer, Knight Piésold

Martha Needs is a Senior Geotechnical Engineer at Knight Piésold, specialising in mine waste management and tailings storage facilities. She graduated from Camborne School of Mines in 2018 with an MSc in Geotechnical Engineering and has since built international experience in tailings facility design, stability assessments and auditing.

Martha is a specialist in the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management (GISTM) and has audited more than 70 tailings facilities worldwide, helping to promote safer, more responsible and sustainable mining practices.

Alongside her technical work, Martha has contributed to the mining profession through the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) as a member of the Mining Technology Group leadership team. She often presents at webinars and conferences discussing tailings and the GISTM. Her achievements reflect the growing contribution of women to technical leadership, innovation and the future of the mining industry.

Dr Fiona Robinson FIMMM

Principal Metallurgy, ENODA Ltd

Dr Fiona Robinson FIMMM is Chair of the Energy Materials Group (EMG), Vice Chair of WIM3, and the 2025 recipient of the T B Marsden Professional Medal. 

Fiona is Principal Metallurgist at ENODA Ltd., bringing over 30 years’ experience in electrical steels, metals and materials R&D, and materials processing technologies to their Materials team. She has industrial, research, academic and consulting experience of non-oriented and grain oriented electrical steels, process and product development, data analytics and problem solving. Fiona actively participates in activities related to widening participation in STEM and supporting women to enter and sustain careers in materials.

Fiona has a degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Imperial College, a PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Liverpool, and a specialist Technology Management MBA from the Open University. Fiona is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).