INWED25: Ca-pow and co-creation with Dr Neha Chandarana

International Women in Engineering Day: Collaboration with Dr Neha Chandarana

Meet Dr Neha Chandarana, Senior Lecturer in the School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering. Her Project, Ca-pow, which explored how identity and lived experience shape the journeys of underrepresented students, is a powerful example of engineering education driven by empathy, evidence and equity.


Tell us how you got into engineering

I didn’t actually study engineering formally! I’ve always been interested in science and maths, but I also had a real interest in textiles, especially the technical side of how things are constructed, so I ended up studying Textile Science at the University of Manchester.

In my final year, I then discovered composite materials and got really interested in how you can take flexible fabrics and engineer them into something incredibly strong.

When I graduated, I initially didn’t want to do any further study or take part in a traditional, structured grad scheme. I just wanted to work! I asked Professor Costas Soutis, a leading figure in composites, for help in reaching out to people in industry but he tried to talk me into doing a PhD which, after some encouragement and unexpected turns, I did actually do!

And your PhD focused on structural health monitoring?

Yes, so working on techniques to detect damage in composite materials using acoustic waves. It’s a bit like listening for changes in how sound travels through a material, so if something’s damaged, the signal changes.

You’ve mentioned not feeling like a ‘traditional’ engineer. Has that changed?

I still don’t think of myself as a traditional engineer. I didn’t go through an accredited engineering degree and I don’t have all the theoretical background, but I’m a scientist working in an engineering department, and I bring a different perspective. That’s something I’ve come to value more and more, especially through interdisciplinary work.

“The challenges we face now are too complex for any one discipline to solve. Engineers need to work with social scientists, educators, psychologists – everyone! “

Interdisciplinary work leads us nicely into Ca-pow. Can you tell us how that came about?

The project was funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering as part of their Diversity Impact programme which encouraged universities to create projects to support underrepresented students in engineering education.

At Bristol, I decided to focus on intersectional students, those who experience overlapping forms of discrimination, such as being both a woman and a person of colour. Intersectionality is often understood in theory, but not always in practice. I wanted to explore how a student’s identity affects their educational experiences and whether multiple markers of disadvantage compound challenges.

What did the project involve?

We ran workshops with undergraduate students, exploring their experiences and introducing them to concepts like intersectionality and protected characteristics. We used a theory of change approach so starting with the outcome in mind (students feeling supported) and working backwards to identify what could lead us there.

The project involved academics from the three faculties at the University of Bristol. How did you find working across the disciplines?

From the beginning, I knew I couldn’t do this project on my own and needed to draw on a range of people and their expertise.

Our team of investigators included Susanne Quadflieg from the School of Psychological Science, Nicola Warren-Lee and Maria Tsapali from the School of Education and Anna Baker from the School of Civil, Aerospace and Design Engineering.

There were challenges to start with. For example, we had to learn how to effectively communicate with each other, taking the different approaches from our disciplines into account, but now we really understand each other and it’s not an issue anymore.

We talk a lot about collaboration in STEM but even working together can still be quite siloed as people focus on their own parts of a collective project. With Ca-pow, we didn’t have any silos at all. I could set up a document and just watch everyone work together to start populating it!

Neha (centre) with Ca-pow investigators Anna Baker, Maria Tsapali, Susanne Quadflieg, Nicola Warren-Lee

What did you learn from working with the students involved Ca-pow?

I was quite surprised by their thoughts around personal tutoring. We knew it would be raised but the concerns students had were different to what we expected to see. Once students understood the role of a personal tutor and the way universities work, they explained that they felt tutors lacked support and training to do the role effectively.

That led us to develop a training workshop for personal tutors, co-created with 12 undergraduate students and an external consultant. Over 12 weeks, we ran experiential workshops on topics like microaggressions and intersectional disadvantage. The students then delivered the training to staff themselves, which was incredibly powerful.

What kind of impact did the project have?

The feedback was amazing. Students said they gained confidence and a better understanding of things like intersectionality and how the university works.

We also heard from staff who said it made them reflect on their assumptions and consider how they could better support students.

What’s next for Ca-pow?


The project has come to an end but some elements have already taken a life of their own. We’ve shared findings with key stakeholders across the University and we’re working on embedding some of the changes.

What do you think universities are doing well in terms of equity, diversity and inclusion and what could they do better?

There’s a lot of good intention, but we need more consistency and a clearer focus on impact.

Often, we run activities without clearly defining what success looks like or how we’ll measure it so evaluation needs to be built in from the start.

This year’s International Women in Engineering Day theme is ‘Together We Engineer.’ Why is collaboration across disciplines and boundaries so important?

The challenges we face now, like climate change, misinformation and inequality, are too complex for any one discipline to solve. Engineers need to work with social scientists, educators, psychologists – everyone!

And we need to bring in diverse lived experiences too. Not just because it looks good on paper, but because it leads to better, more thoughtful solutions.

Finally, what would you say to someone from an underrepresented background considering studying at university or pursuing a career in academia?

It’s ok to feel out of place sometimes. That’s normal. If you’re doing something because you’re passionate about it, that belief is really going to help carry you through.

You might have to take a different path or work in a different way, but your perspective is valuable. And increasingly, it’s essential. The more we bring different voices into research and education, the better we all become.

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