Digital Women Awards 2025 Winner: Dr Clara Cheung

Introducing Digital Women Award 2025 Winner

Dr Clara Cheung: Role Model (Leadership Impact) of the Year 2025

The Role Model (Leadership Impact) award recognises individuals who have truly made a difference in their fields. From business to education and beyond, the finalists were exceptional individuals who lead with integrity, inspire others, and continue to drive meaningful change. We’re excited to share the story of our winner, Dr. Clara Cheung. 

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Dr Clara Cheung – an engineer by training, a social scientist at heart, and an advocate for using technology to advance human well-being. I serve as a Reader in Engineering Management and Faculty Head of Internationalisation at The University of Manchester, where I lead global partnerships that push the boundaries of AI, robotics, and digital transformation in the construction and infrastructure sectors.

My work focuses on a clear mission: to shape a future of work that is not only digital, but also safe, inclusive, and human-centred. I lead more than a dozen international research and innovation programmes across Japan, South Korea, ASEAN, Europe, and North America, working with governments, universities, and industry to design technologies that protect workers, improve decision-making, and enhance societal resilience.

My journey into engineering began outside the expected path. With a background in Business, I started in global supply chain and enterprise systems transformation, leading high-impact digital programmes for multinational retailers across Asia-Pacific and North America. I learned early that technology fails when imposed and succeeds when it empowers people. That principle continues to guide my research, teaching, and leadership – innovation must serve humanity, or it serves no purpose.

What does winning this award mean to you?

Winning the Digital Women Role Model – Leadership Impact Award is both an honour and a responsibility. It is not just a personal milestone – it reflects the collective effort of the many women, mentors, and allies who have championed a more inclusive digital world.

For me, this award is a powerful recognition of what I believe in most: progress happens through collaboration – between engineering and social science, academia and industry, and crucially, across international borders. Much of my work brings together global teams from the UK, Japan, South Korea, ASEAN and beyond to drive responsible digital innovation.

This award affirms that digital leadership must also be global leadership – inclusive, ethical, and human-centred.

Above all, it strengthens my commitment to open doors for others and to use digital innovation not just for efficiency or profit, but as a force for equity, safety, and societal well- being.

What career achievement are you most proud of?

The achievement I am most proud of is leading the “Keeping the UK Building Safely” digital safety project during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many sectors moved online, construction workers continued working on-site to keep essential infrastructure running – often at significant personal risk. There was no existing guidance on how social distancing might work in complex, fast-changing site environments, so an urgent solution was needed.

I led a rapid-response collaboration with the UK Health and Safety Executive and partners from across industry to develop a simulation platform that modelled virus transmission on construction sites. The tool used digital modelling and worker movement data to help organisations test different safety strategies before implementing them in real life – supporting safer decision-making and continuity of critical work during the pandemic.

The platform received national recognition through the Rapid Assistance in Modelling the Pandemic Public Outreach Award for its real-world impact. For me, this project demonstrated how digital innovation, when designed with purpose and empathy, can protect people and shape safer, more resilient industries.

What impact have you seen from your work? 

My work has helped transform how digital technologies are used to improve safety, decision-making, and workforce well-being in high-risk industries. I focus on human-centred digital innovation that delivers measurable, real-world outcomes.

Through partnerships with industry and government, my digital risk simulation and AI safety tools have been used in live project environments, helping organisations model hazards, test interventions, and make evidence-based safety decisions before work begins on site. In collaboration with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the UK’s workplace safety regulator, I also contribute to national thinking on digital safety guidance and responsible technology adoption.

Internationally, I lead over 10 collaborative programmes across Japan, South Korea, ASEAN, Europe, and North America, advancing research in human–robot collaboration and digital safety engineering while building shared tools and training resources across countries. My teaching and mentoring have equipped over 1,000 engineers and project leaders with AI and data capabilities, helping to shape the next generation of ethical digital innovators.

Across all initiatives, my impact is driven by a simple belief: technology should empower people – not replace them.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve had to learn, and how did you grow from it?

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that expertise alone doesn’t create change – trust does.

Early in my career, I believed that the strongest ideas and best technologies would naturally succeed. But working on complex digital transformation projects taught me that even the most advanced tools fail if people don’t feel included, valued, or heard.

I learned that listening is a leadership skill and that progress happens when people feel ownership, not when change is imposed on them. This realisation transformed how I lead. I now build change with people, not for them – whether I’m working with engineers on robotics safety, policymakers on digital standards, or students learning to apply AI responsibly. This lesson reshaped my entire approach to innovation: technology must be human-centred to be transformative, and leadership must be collaborative to be meaningful.

What’s one thing people might be surprised to learn about you?

People are often surprised to learn that I didn’t come from engineering at all – my first degree was in Business, and I began my career in retail supply chains and digital operations. I wasn’t the “typical engineer,” but I chose to retrain because I believed technology should be designed for people, not the other way around. That unconventional path still shapes how I lead today – with curiosity, courage, and no fear of changing direction to solve bigger problems.

What advice would you give to the next wave of Digital Women?

• To the next generation of Digital Women: you don’t have to wait for permission to lead – start where you are, with what you have, and build from there. The digital world needs your perspective, your curiosity, and your courage. My advice is simple:
• Lead with purpose, not position. Influence is not about titles – it’s about impact. Know what you stand for and let your values guide your work.
• Be technically confident and human-centred. Understand the technology, but never forget the people it is meant to serve.
• Build your network of allies. Collaboration is your greatest accelerator. Surround yourself with people who challenge, support, and champion you.
• Speak up – even when your voice shakes. Your ideas matter. Progress has always been driven by people who dared to think differently.
• Lift others as you climb. True leadership isn’t measured by personal success, but by how many people you bring forward with you.

The future of digital won’t be written by those who play it safe – it will be built by women who combine intelligence with empathy, courage with integrity, and innovation with impact.