Royal Holloway's Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad, from the Department of Information Security, has been awarded a Top 50 Women in Engineering award 2026 (WE50).
Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad
This year’s theme, Engineering Intelligence, focused on how human creativity and technological innovation combine to solve complex challenges and drive inclusive progress, with the award being part of The Women’s Engineering Society.
The criteria for the award included acting as an advocate for other women in STEM, working or studying in engineering industries and allied sectors, engineering education, or engineering research and achieving beyond what would normally be expected for career stage.
Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad, who won the award for her work on The Tech Abuse Handbook and her research on FemTech, said: “Receiving the WE50 award is a testament to the growing vital role of cyber safety, security, and privacy engineering in modern society.
“True engineering intelligence lies in translating complex, rigorous technical research into tangible tools that protect people.
“Whether it is advising regulatory bodies or establishing digital safety toolkits for victims and survivors of tech abuse, our digital safety and engineering processes must always be inclusive, and purpose driven.
“I look forward to continuing this work to ensure emerging technologies serve and protect everyone equally."
The Women’s Engineering Society celebrates women across all disciplines and career stages whose work, leadership and advocacy are helping shape a more inclusive engineering profession.
