In engineering, motivation often comes from seeing a real problem – and knowing that what you build will make a difference.
For Caroline, that started early. At school she gravitated towards Maths and Technology, but a defining moment came while teaching gymnastics as a student. One of her athletes was deaf and blind, yet judged on staying in time with music through her floor routine. Caroline designed and built a watch with a defined beat so the athlete could keep rhythm independently. It was her first experience of engineering something practical for a real person…and seeing it work.
A year working for a diesel engine manufacturer before university confirmed her direction. She went on to study Mechanical Engineering, one of only ten women on a 200-strong course – and one of only five who completed it. She returned to the engine company after graduating, then joined JCB as a Development Engineer, testing machines in real operating conditions.
Since then, Caroline’s career has spanned medical diagnostics, spectrometry, DNA sequencing and infection protection – roles where design, testing and failure analysis mattered. In medical diagnostics especially, the stakes were clear: if the design is wrong, people can be misdiagnosed. That focus on testing to destruction, understanding how systems fail and designing out risk has stayed with her.
Today, she is a professionally registered Chartered Engineer – an achievement she is particularly proud of and one that reflects years of applied engineering practice, responsibility and continued development.
Now at RW Seals, Caroline is motivated by work that reduces costly leaks and harmful emissions while being part of a genuinely supportive, human-centred engineering culture. One day she’s designing brand new concepts; the next she’s on scaffolding inspecting 60-year-old assets. A recent highlight was working in Japan on the Fukushima Daiichi decommissioning – seeing first-hand how engineering controls can limit the impact of extreme events.
Caroline’s approach is simple and consistent:
Understand the problem, test assumptions and build something that performs in the real world.
Good engineering isn’t abstract.
It’s personal – and it carries responsibility.
