ONE of the country's greatest engineers has received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Cumbria.

Barrow born and raised, Professor Helen James has enjoyed a distinguished career, with outstanding contributions to the engineering profession, women in STEM, education and over 20 years of strategic leadership advocating universities as a catalyst for social mobility and economic growth.

Helen was one of the very first female Apprentice Mechanical Engineers at the town's shipyard.

Excelling in her studies, she was the first in her family to go to university when she was sponsored to embark on her undergraduate degree, a BSc (Hons) in Engineering at the University of Leicester.

She then went to Portsmouth to work in the space industry before later moving into tertiary and higher education, progressing in a number of roles.

In 2001, she was invited to join a new senior team to create a new university for northeast Wales.

Later she served as a Pro Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Canterbury Christ Church University and then was lead for the Kent and Medway Engineering, Design, Growth and Enterprise Hub, a major collaboration to grow the economy through science engineering and technology and securing a sustainable workforce for the future.

Believing passionately in enabling access to STEM, Helen has supported careers and outreach in schools for over 40 years, including establishing Wrexham’s science centre.

Now she is involved in several national organisations, including Chair of the Institution of Mechanical Engineering’s Education and Skills Board, a Member of the Royal Society’s Education Committee, Vice Chair of a Multi Academy Trust and advisor to the Strategic Industry Advisory Board at Canterbury Christ Church University.

She is also a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, in 2005, she was named Woman of the Year for Science and Technology in Wales and has held many non-executor directorships across a range of businesses.

In 2021, Professor James was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, for services to Higher Education and Charity.

Professor James said: "I feel hugely honoured. I can't believe that so many years ago, I left school at 16, and here I am being honoured by the University of Cumbria - the place of my birth and the university that has really born out of the social and economic needs of its community."