Women in civil engineering
Our civil engineering degree courses have proved a successful training ground for female civil engineers who are now forging their way in the world’s leading engineering companies. Meet some of our talented staff, students and alumni, and find out why they chose to pursue a career within this fascinating discipline.
Our aim
To create an inclusive, dynamic environment where everyone can flourish.
We have a long track record of developing outstanding female graduates who go on to occupy leading positions in industry, and there are plenty of opportunities for students to start building their network while at Surrey.
Many of our female students successfully apply for our unique Surrey/ICE scholarship which partners them with a leading civil engineering company throughout their studies. For the past 10 years, we have nominated and supported a female student to enter the prestigious Women in Property Awards – and to date, a Surrey student has claimed the Southeast award seven times. We also work closely with the Women in Engineering Society to organise and host events which welcome both female and male students and enrich the life of the Department.
Women leading research
What our students say
Hear what our students have to say about their time in our Department and what they have achieved.
Meet our female academics
Professor Abigail Bristow
Appointed as Head of Department in September 2016, Professor Abigail Bristow has long experience in transport management and policy, focusing particularly on two of the negative environmental effects of transport: noise and climate change. She is a fellow of the Institute of Acoustics, the Royal Society of the Arts and the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation and a member of the Acoustical Society of America.
Dr Liang Cui
Dr Liang Cui is a lecturer in geotechnics with her main expertise being in developing discrete element method (DEM) for modelling granular materials, endeavouring to develop DEM codes to analyse the micromechanics in the geotechnical element tests and a wide range of geotechnical applications. Her secondary area of research is the characterising of functional materials, including polymeric materials, porous materials and soft tissues.
Dr Bing Guo
Dr Bing Guo joined the University in 2020 and has hit the ground running with her sustainability research into reducing the Co2 emissions in sewage, by looking at ways of developing a method that could help treat wastewater and convert it into an energy source.
Dr Donya Hajializadeh
Dr Donya Hajializadeh is a chartered engineer, European engineer, and senior lecturer in bridge and structural engineering. Her research interests include structural health monitoring, bridge risk and assessment and traffic load modelling, infrastructure interdependencies' modelling and resilience, vulnerability and risk assessment of critical infrastructure.
Dr Susan Hughes
Dr Susan Hughes is an applied mathematician who has worked at the University for over 23 years. She is interested in fluid mechanics, maths and computing with a particular focus on the development and application of computer models relating to the science of the environment.
Dr Belen Marti-Cardona
Dr Belen Marti-Cardona is a civil engineer specialising in hydrological and hydraulic modelling, and in the exploitation of Earth observation data for hydrological and environmental engineering applications. Her interests involve innovative applications of remote sensing data to water resources problems, impact of soil moisture on rainfall-runoff transformations and drought mapping and monitoring to name a few.
Dr Katherine Pond
Dr Katherine Pond is a World Health Organisation (WHO) Temporary Advisor on a number of contracts providing technical and administrative support and training in the field of water quality monitoring and human health. She is currently working with the WHO on revising their guidelines for safe drinking water by examining how water supplies are kept safe, what checks are done and how the resultant data is used.