Professor of Chemical Engineering, Heriot-Watt University
With over thirty years’ experience in modelling complex systems and reaction networks, Professor Raffaella Ocone OBE – currently Professor of Chemical Engineering at Heriot-Watt University – is an inspirational advocate for women in STEM careers.
Raffaella, who was born in rural southern Italy, obtained an MA and PhD from Princeton University in 1992, before taking on lecturing positions and readerships at the University of Naples, the University of Nottingham and Louisiana State University.
She is widely recognised for her work in modelling complex reactive systems, which has led to several significant real-world applications – including in the development of carbon capture and storage technologies.
Raffaella also has a strong interest in ethics and social responsibility in science, something that she has carried through in her work with the Royal Academy of Engineering. She chaired the Academy’s Teaching Ethics Group, and she drove projects with students on the ethicality of the green transition, as well as producing new case studies.
In addition to being a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering – a position to which she was elected in 2013 – Raffaella holds Fellowships with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institution of Chemical Engineers. As the first female professor of chemical engineering in Scotland, she is an outspoken critic of the gender imbalance in STEM careers, and a champion of women.
Raffaella was awarded an OBE in 2019 in recognition of her services to engineering.
Ingenia article
Professor Raffaella Ocone OBE FRSE FREng
