London engineer on a mission to beat cancer

Prof. Rebecca Shipley from London has been chosen to feature in a national campaign showcasing how engineers are on a mission to make the world a better place.

The healthcare engineer at UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering is one of just five engineers from across the UK handpicked to front #EngineerOnAMission for Tomorrow’s Engineers Week 2019.

Prof. Shipley, 36, was selected for her work helping to beat cancer. She leads a team developing tools to understand the structure of cancerous tissues in the body and better predict where drugs will be delivered to. These predictions have the potential to help doctors to optimise the delivery of therapies to patients.

As an Engineer on a Mission, Prof. Shipley became the star of a film that highlights the impact engineers have on the nation’s health and wellbeing. The film was shown to 50,000 students at the Tomorrow’s Engineers Week Big Assembly yesterday (6 November).

Explaining why she chose a career in engineering, Professor Shipley said:

“From when I chose my A-levels, I focused on maths, physical sciences and engineering, as these were the subjects I loved.

“Once I started my research career, I wanted to be able to have an impact on people’s health and quality of life.

“Fortunately, there is huge opportunity for this, as we need researchers who can develop tools from maths and engineering to develop digital and medical technologies in healthcare.”

Dr Hilary Leevers, CEO at EngineeringUK, the organisers of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, commented:

“We want every young person to see that engineering offers a varied, stimulating and rewarding career.

“The UK needs tens of thousands more engineers and Tomorrow’s Engineers Week provides an opportunity for the engineering community to work together to inspire the next generation of engineers to meet this demand.

“We’re delighted to have the opportunity to share Prof. Shipley’s mission to help beat cancer with thousands of potential future engineers.”

Further highlights of the Week include the first This is Engineering Day on Wednesday 6 November, challenging the public stereotype of the engineer and the second Tomorrow’s Engineers Week Big Assembly, which will see over 50,000 pupils taking part in the same assembly, at the same time.