The UK has addressed the gender issue in science head-on and has made some great progress, including the development of several programs, such as WISE and ATHENA, that provide opportunities to enhance and advance women's careers in SET. Julia King will discuss these programs and others and will cite women who are at the forefront of science. Case studies and success stories of how women scientists have added a new dimension to their scientific fields and led to new discovery will be presented.

Her background: Dr Julia King CBE FREng is the Principal of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London. She was previously Chief Executive at the Institute of Physics. She is also currently chairman of the Defence Science Advisory Council of the UK Ministry of Defence, and has been a member of the Council of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and served on the Foresight Panels for Materials, Marine and Defence and Aerospace.

Her career has included time spent in both academia and industry. Before joining the Institute of Physics, Dr King held a number of senior positions at Rolls-Royce plc and prior to that spent 16 years as an academic researcher and lecturer. Her research interests include the mechanisms of metal fatigue and fracture, and aerospace and marine propulsion.

She received her first degree in Natural Sciences and a PhD in Materials from Cambridge University. She took up a Lectureship at Nottingham University in 1980.

In 1987, Dr King returned to Cambridge to hold the first British Gas/Royal Academy of Engineering Senior Research Fellowship and later a University Lectureship. Before leaving to join Rolls-Royce in 1994, she was Assistant Director of the Cambridge University Technology Centre for Ni-Base Superalloys.

At Rolls-Royce plc she was Head of Materials, Director of Advanced Engineering and Managing Director of Rolls-Royce Fan Systems before becoming Director of Engineering and Technology for the Marine Business. She is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Materials, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the Institution of Marine Engineers, Scientists and Technologists, the Institute of Physics, and the Royal Society for the Arts. She has published over 150 research papers.

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This lecture is sponsored by the UK Science and Technology. The UK's progressive science & technology environment makes it the partner of choice for world-leading researchers, developers and academics eager to turn knowledge into tangible innovation. Learn more about how the UK is developing science and technology for a new world at www.uksciencetech.com