Caitlin McCall, an engineering doctoral student from Swansea University, has been named one of 2021’s Top 50 Women in Engineering (WE50) by the Women's Engineering Society (WES).
The annual WE50 awards take place on International Women in Engineering Day and celebrate the best, brightest and bravest women in engineering.
The last year, in particular, has highlighted the importance of engineers and their role in keeping us safe, providing solutions throughout the unprecedented global health crisis of COVID-19.
Inspired by the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), Caitlin has used her expertise in manufacturing to counteract this shortfall throughout the pandemic.
Along with colleagues from the College of Engineering, Caitlin designed, manufactured, and distributed face essential visors.
In just three months, the visor prototype was CE marked and approved by the NHS, ensuring the safety of hundreds of key workers in South Wales.
Caitlin said: "I am absolutely honoured to have been chosen by the judges to be in the top 50 alongside all these fantastic women.
"Engineering plays a huge role in society, and these awards are important in acknowledging the great work being done.
"Engineering allows people to be creative in problem-solving complicated issues. The solutions we come up with can be ground-breaking, which is an incredibly satisfying aspect of being a chartered engineer. It is in everything around us, so the application of this creative process is truly limitless and very exciting."
Caitlin is part of the Materials and Manufacturing Academy (M2A) which provides industry-led postgraduate research training at the Bay Campus. M2A is part funded by the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government.