Engineering Research Associate wins Future Innovation Leader award

Dr Bethany Keenan, Post-doctoral Research Associate in the School of Engineering, won the newest award, Future Innovation Leader, at this year’s Innovation and Impact Awards. This award recognizes individuals who have played an active role in the development of the impact of their research.

Bethany is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE). She works with clinical and industry collaborators, and researchers from other Schools around the University (Biosciences, Medicine, Mathematics, Pharmacy, Psychology and Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre) to gain experience in multi-disciplinary fields.

Bethany is independently leading international, collaborative research projects in soft tissue mechanics and medical imaging, with a particular focus on pressure ulcers. In order to comprehend soft tissue behaviour and how it changes as a result of injury, repair and adaptation, she is investigating fundamental aspects of pressure ulcer formation to improve pressure ulcer treatment and prevention. Her overall aim is to improve clinical guidelines and test methods to determine which products/methods are likely to be most effective in preventing injury. This will potentially aid clinicians and carers to ensure that patients receive the best possible care.

Bethany is an MR Operator at CUBRIC. She is also the Deputy Research Staff Co-ordinator at the School of Engineering and a STEM Ambassador.

The award was judged on the candidate’s ability to evidence activities that demonstrate the following: beneficial impact on University research activity, demonstration of cross disciplinary awareness and/or external academic partner collaboration, demonstration of industry engagement and/or collaboration, technical and transferable skill-set improvement, demonstration of leadership and impact potential and demonstration of public and/or stakeholder engagement.

The Innovation and Impact Awards are organised by the Cardiff University Innovation Network, which has promoted business-university interactions for more than 20 years.

The Awards took place at the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, on 3 June.