Former Emeritus Professor in Electrical Engineering, London South Bank University
Dr Agnes Kaposi is a trailblazer in computer engineering, as well as a Holocaust survivor, campaigner and educator. She has spent a lifetime championing women in the engineering industry, and in 1992, was elected as the third woman Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Born in 1932, Agnes survived labour camps in Austria, but still excelled in her studies, later obtaining her PhD in Computer Aided Design from the Technical University of Budapest.
After fleeing Communist Hungary in 1957, Agnes forged an academic career in a new home in the UK. She took on a Churchill Fellowship, where she explored the role of women engineers across Communist and Western countries. She later responded to the rising demand for IT skills by devising an all-new course at Kingston University, attended by policymakers and scientists alike. The success of the course enabled her to take a post as Head of Electrical Engineering at London Southbank University – the only woman to be appointed to such a role in a university at the time.
Over the years, she became a defining voice in the systems engineering industry, consulting with firms including Plessey Radar, BT, and Xerox.
While she has retired from engineering, Agnes has maintained a strong presence in Holocaust education, and continues to tell her story in schools, museums, and beyond. She has been awarded an MBE for her services to Holocaust awareness.
Dr Agnes Kaposi MBE FREng
