Dr Ashley van Bruygom and Dr Alicia Torres Gomez presented their Women in Sustainable Aviation initiative at the WISE Conference 2026 in London, where their poster was selected for a special viewing and discussion with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal.
The Women in Sustainable Aviation initiative was presented at the WISE Conference 2026 by Dr Ashley van Bruygom and Dr Alicia Torres Gomez, ahead of an event to be held at Somerville College, University of Oxford, on 4 December 2026.
Their poster was among those selected to be viewed and discussed with Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, Princess Anne, giving Ashley and Alicia the opportunity to introduce the initiative and talk about the role of women in the transition towards more sustainable aviation.
The initiative is being developed as part of the EPSRC Programme Grant, Making Hydrogen Work in Zero Carbon Jet Engines, and aims to bring together women working across sustainable aviation, from engineering and scientific research to industry and policy.
The WISE Conference, held at IET London: Savoy Place on 28 September, brought together people from across science, technology, engineering and mathematics to discuss gender equity in STEM. This year's programme focused on active allyship, young professionals and collaboration across sectors.
For Ashley and Alicia, the conference was also an opportunity to share their work within the Programme Grant and to discuss how the technical challenges involved in developing hydrogen-powered aviation can go hand in hand with supporting a more diverse and inclusive research community. They also shared plans for the Women in Sustainable Aviation event in Oxford, which grew out of their work and experiences within the Programme Grant.
Dr van Bruygom said:
“It was a real privilege to present our plans at WISE and to have the opportunity to discuss the poster with The Princess Royal. Sustainable aviation is a huge engineering challenge, and we want to make sure that women working across the field are part of that conversation. One of the things I enjoyed most about the WISE conference was meeting people who are trying to make practical changes in their own organisations and fields. There is still work to do to ensure women can enter, stay and progress in STEM careers, and networks like this can be one useful part of that.”
Bringing women in sustainable aviation together
Aviation's transition towards lower-carbon technologies draws on expertise from many different areas, including propulsion, hydrogen and cryogenic fuels, aircraft design, infrastructure, operations and policy.
Women in Sustainable Aviation was developed to bring some of those communities together and to create stronger connections between women working in the field.
The WISE poster introduced the thinking behind the initiative and plans for the event at Somerville College, set against wider evidence of the underrepresentation of women in aviation and engineering. Through Women in Sustainable Aviation, Ashley and Alicia hope to make their own contribution to supporting women pursuing careers in aviation, while also drawing attention to the opportunities for women to take part in emerging areas of sustainable aviation research.
This is particularly relevant to their own work within the Programme Grant, where research into hydrogen and cryogenic fuels is addressing some of the fundamental scientific and engineering questions involved in developing zero-carbon jet engines.
Dr Torres Gomez said:
“Through our work on cryogenic fuels, we see first-hand how many different areas of expertise are involved in making sustainable aviation possible. We want to create a mini-conference event to showcase the research of female engineers in the hydrogen aviation sector, to learn more about each other’s work and share experiences. We are inviting researchers for academia and industry across the different career stages, from PhD students to senior researchers. The event will feature keynote speeches from some of the sector’s key players and role models, Jacqueline Castle (CTO at the Aerospace Technology Institute) and Prof. Barbara Shollock (Founder and Director of Net Zero Centre and Professor of Engineering at King's College London). In addition, we want to provide an opportunity to early-career researchers to present their research in an elevator pitch competition, to further develop communication skills and boost confidence in future wider-audience presentations.”
Linking sustainability and representation
The Women in Sustainable Aviation initiative comes at a time of significant research into ways of reducing aviation's climate impact.
The EPSRC Programme Grant is investigating the scientific and engineering challenges involved in making hydrogen work in zero-carbon jet engines. Alongside this technical research, the Women in Sustainable Aviation initiative provides an opportunity to consider the people who will contribute to the next generation of aviation technologies and how women can be encouraged to build and develop careers in the sector.
The WISE Conference provided an early opportunity to share the idea with a wider STEM audience. Having the poster selected for discussion with The Princess Royal was a particular highlight and brought additional attention to the initiative ahead of December.
The focus now moves to Somerville College, where Women in Sustainable Aviation will bring together researchers and professionals to share their work, experiences and perspectives on a more sustainable future for aviation.