Queen Mary Engineering alum Dr Farah Ahmed has been named one of the Women’s Engineering Society’s (WES) Top 50 Women in Engineering (WE50) 2026, one of the UK’s most prestigious recognitions celebrating the achievements and contributions of women in engineering.

Dr Ahmed completed a PhD in Biophysics and Biomechanics at Queen Mary's School of Engineering and Materials Science in 2010 and continued working in the school as a Research Assistant for a short while afterwards.

She is now Managing Director at Secretariat, a legal and risk consultancy, which announced the news on International Women in Engineering Day.

The annual WE50 awards, announced in conjunction with International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), recognize women who are making significant contributions to the engineering profession through technical excellence, leadership, innovation, and impact. This year’s theme, Engineering Intelligence, highlights the role of engineering expertise, creativity, and problem-solving in addressing complex challenges across industries.

Dr Ahmed is a globally recognized expert in product safety, reliability, and failure analysis who advises clients across a wide range of industries on complex technical, regulatory, and operational challenges. Her expertise spans materials science, advanced imaging, destructive and non-destructive evaluation, and fracture mechanics, and she has led investigations involving consumer products, electronics, medical devices, automotive systems, aerospace components, pharmaceuticals, and industrial equipment. Beyond her client work, Dr Ahmed is an active contributor to the engineering community through research, mentorship, and professional leadership, including as Founder and President of Tomography for Scientific Advancement (ToScA), an international organization dedicated to advancing the application of X-ray computed tomography across science and engineering.

Celebrating the news on her LinkedIn page, Dr Ahmed said "I am truly humbled to be recognised among the Top 50 Women Engineers in the UK on a day dedicated to celebrating women engineers across the globe.

At today’s celebrations at the House of Lords, I was asked a simple question: “How did you get into Engineering?” My answer was equally simple: “I was a curious kid.”

It was a privilege to meet so many remarkable women engineers from diverse disciplines and at different stages of their careers. Each had a unique story to tell and each is making an incredible contribution to our profession.

Thank you to Secretariat and Dr Ahmed for their words in this story.