In 2025, the School of Engineering marks its own significant anniversary: 100 years since the first woman started her degree in 1925. To honour this milestone Dr Holly Foss and Dr Rachel Fisher, supported by Claudia Favero in Chemical Engineering, started a project showcasing some of the female engineers who have studied at the University throughout its history.
Winifred Hackett (BSc Electrical Engineering, 1929; PhD 1931)
Winifred was born in Birmingham, in 1906 to a family of engineers. She was the only woman in a cohort of men and in 1929 became the first recorded woman to graduate in engineering at Birmingham. As part of her degree she was awarded the Bowen Scholarship to continue her research and later received additional funding to complete a PhD on selenium cells.
Her career saw her work as a technical assistant, Head of the Mathematical and Physics Division at the English Electric Company and at Manchester Business School working on statistics. From 1946-1947 she was president of the Women Engineers Society. In retirement she continued engineering, developing and patenting modifications and aids for those with disabilities.
Dr Eleonora Kopalinsky, Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering 1979-1981
Eleonora was born in 1937 in Northern China and in school developed strong skills in physics, maths, and mechanics. After her family moved to Australia, she became the first woman to complete an engineering degree from University of New South Wales in 1966 and the first woman to earn an engineering doctorate from UNSW in 1972.
After completing her PhD, she joined the academic staff in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Birmingham while continuing her research. In 1982 she returned to UNSW where she worked until her retirement.
Carole Ingram (BSc Chemical Engineering, 1981)
After University, Carole’s hugely varied career encompassed oil refinery project and process engineering, economic analysis, and business development. She was a passionate champion of women and an active member of the Women’s Engineering Society.
In 2021, after Carole’s death, a prize was established to honour her and encourage other female students to follow in her footsteps and choose to study Chemical Engineering at Birmingham.