Laura graduated from Queen’s University Belfast in 2010 with a 1st Class Masters in Product Design & Development from the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; followed by a PGCE in Technology & Design from Ulster University.
Laura returned to academia to commence PhD studies following 10 years in industry; where she worked as a design engineer for a range of companies, including metal packaging, quarry equipment and consumer product design. Laura holds multiple patents owing to the work completed while based in the innovation team of a global metal packaging firm. Most recently, Laura worked for an FE college in an engineering business support role; upskilling, mentoring, and completing engineering projects with SMEs through a range of funding options. She is experienced in product design, design for manufacture, 3D CAD, prototype production and business improvement.
In October 2021, Laura began her PhD study on human robot collaborative manufacturing as part of the Re-imagining Engineering Design team. She was enthusiastic in developing knowledge on how to achieve the best outcomes with human-robot teams.
In October 2022, Laura progressed onwards from the RIED project and was promoted to the position of InQUBate Programme Manager at Queen’s University. InQUBate is a network across the University that supports student and graduate entrepreneurship, the role involves managing the collaboration of the network along with organising delivery of programmes such as the QUest startup accelerator.