Profile

I live about 12 miles away from Leeds, not too far from the Yorkshire Dales.  I live with my husband, Mark, who works in the chemicals industry.  We have a pet cat, and the village has a lot of ducks which often take up residence in our garden – much to the annoyance of the cat!

Outside of work, I am quite musical – I play piano reasonably well, guitar quite badly and I got a ukulele for Christmas, so I’ve been learning a few chords.  If you’re very unlucky I sing along.  Mark is a pretty talented artist, but I generally just make a mess.  Being an engineer, I think I prefer order and angular structures – so I tend to make mosaics instead.

I used to be quite sporty – representing GB in archery when I was young – but I’ve been very busy with my job so haven’t done that much lately – but am hoping to re-start next year!

My research is all about ankles!

I am a medical engineer and my research is focussed on the ankle joint  – understanding the load and movement that happens at the ankle when we walk and go about our lives, and seeing how this changes when we get an injury, such as an ankle sprain.

Over time, and as we get older, our joints can become stiff and sore, and some people might need a joint replacement.  At the moment, ankle replacements are not used very much and don’t always work as well as we’d like  – so another area of my research is looking at improving the designs of these to make them work longer.  I’m working with a group of researchers to design new tests so that we can ensure they are safe before they are used to treat patients.    This picture shows a ‘simulator’ which can make the ankle joint ‘walk’ for days on end – similar to what would happen in a patient

I also teach on our mechanical engineering and product design degrees and supervise some projects.  I really enjoy teaching, and particularly working with the students on their projects- I have some amazing students who I know will go on to do great things!

I also like doing our public engagement activities – this can be anything from running a school workshop to science fairs.  A little while ago, I did an MP pairing scheme – I got to shadow an MP at the Houses of Parliament to see how government works, and then he came to our labs – which was a lot of fun.  He hadn’t done any science or engineering since GCSE so I hope we taught him some new things!

I’m really lucky with my job, I work with so many different people and it’s really rewarding.  I know that the research I’m doing might change someones life, and even on days I find difficult, where there might be some problems to solve, that makes everything worthwhile!

I wouldn’t say I have a typical day – I can be working at the hospital, attending a conference or on the university campus, and then be in the lab, my office or a lecture theatre!  But here’s something close I think…

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0830: Sitting in my office at university – catching up on email, looking at the latest research, or preparing for a lecture

1000  Meetings – I spend a lot of time in meetings – with my project students or my PhD researchers discussing their work; with my boss – letting him know what I’ve been up to; with a local surgeon – to talk about the current research; in academic meetings – to discuss teaching; research group meetings – to talk about everything we’re doing

1230 – lunch is usually at my desk whilst checking email, or on the way across to the hospital.  I do try to get out for a walk or something but in Leeds it’s often raining so I like to stay indoors!

1230 – I’ll spend some time in the laboratory – either checking things are running ok, or setting up something new to test.  Most of the work I do with our team is experimental, so I do some of my time in the lab, but I do sometimes make computer models too (although I’m not great at those, so I  leave them to my better work colleagues)

1600 – Admin – grant writing, assignment marking, report writing, planning!

I guess the other thing I do a lot of is thinking!  Working out how to tackle a problem, thinking about what I’ve just read, how I’m going to explain something to my students.  I spend a lot of time thinking.  Usually I head home around 1730 – although sometimes my days can start at 0730 and not finish until after 7pm!

People seem quite surprised when I say I’m an engineer. Not only that I’m chartered and a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. It’s not always obvious that engineers do different things and aren’t just about engines!
At the moment, we run a workshop for schools called ‘Great Bones’. It’s aimed at 11-14 year olds, and we talk about how and why bones break, and how they heal – then it’s over to the students to repair a broken bone with the kit of materials we provide – they become the bioengineers! My research group has been running this for nearly 10 years now, so I think it’s about time we did something new. Some of the work I’m doing is looking at tissue engineering and I’d really like to develop a similar workshop that explains how engineering can be used to help the body repair itself.