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Honora Driscoll
The 2025 Top 50 Women in Engineering Awards (WE50) celebrate the women engineers who are trailblazers in the world of engineering, under the theme 'Together We Engineer'. The awards are announced each year on 23 June, International Women in Engineering Day (INWED).
Honora Driscoll is based at the Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, where her DPhil research looks at green ammonia and green hydrogen production using offshore renewable energy sources, particularly tidal stream energy. Honora is in the OXGATE research group, a collaboration between the Division's Departments of Chemistry and Engineering Science.
Alongside her research, Honora has been the Vice-President and Interim President of the Women in Engineering steering committee in the Department of Engineering Science, working to support and encourage women in the field.
'I am honoured to be selected as one of the Top 50 Women in Engineering 2025. This award celebrates the values that drive my work: curiosity, persistence, and resilience. I encourage other women pursuing careers in engineering to remain confident and not be discouraged by setbacks or challenges. Believe in your potential, stay determined, and know that your contributions matter – both to the discipline and to those who will follow in your footsteps,' said Honora.
'This award celebrates the values that drive my work: curiosity, persistence, and resilience.'
The nominations were made both by individuals and professional institutes, and all were put forward because they have excelled in their field. The awards were judged by a panel of independent industry experts led by head judge, Laura Shrieves, VP Engineering at Ultra Marine.
The WE50 awards programme was created in 2016 by the Women's Engineering Society and is now in its twelfth year, having recognised approximately 500 outstanding UK-based female engineers. The theme for this year's WE50, ‘Together We Engineer,’ demonstrates the powerful impact made by women engineers across diverse sectors including transport, construction, technology, healthcare, digital health, decarbonisation, heritage projects, space science, sustainability and accessibility.
Honora continues Oxford's strong representation in the WE50 awards. Fellow DPhil student Nadja Yang was selected as one of WES Top 50 Women in Engineering in 2022, and Misha Patel was announced as one of the Women's Engineering Society 2024 Top 50 Women in Engineering award winners.