Caroline is the Dupont Canada Chair of Engineering Education Research and Development at Queens University, Kingston, Ontario. Her role is to enhance the learning experience of engineering students across the Faculty whilst maintaining her research and teaching interests in materials science and engineering. Between May 2000 and 2003 Caroline was Senior Lecturer in Engineering and the Deputy Director of the UK Centre for Materials Education (UKCME).

Her research interests in materials science have developed from a background in composite materials (reinforced plastics) to a focus on natural sustainable composites and biomimicry (learning from nature). She is particularly interested in ways in which science and engineering can help to create solutions for the environment as well as social problems.

Her work in education focuses on the relationship between knowledge development and creativity in research and in student learning. She has over 100 publications, papers and books in materials science and education. Her most recent books include a Woodhead publication, ‘Green Composites’, a Routledge publication ‘Effective learning and teaching in engineering’ and an edited Campus volume ‘Travelling facts: the social construction, distribution and accumulation of knowledge.’