Catherine is lecturer in Computer Science at Cardiff University and Deputy Director of Collaborative Learning with Industry as well as Placement and Employability Lead for the School of Computer Science and Informatics.

She is the Academic Lead for the pan-Wales Technocamps project which includes bringing digital skills to children and young people and upskilling the local workforce through micro-credentials. Catherine had a varied background in the civil service including recruitment and resource management, before returning to education to complete a BSc Information Systems followed by a PhD. Her research area is Policy Informatics with a focus on education and skills and she is currently working on projects with Cardiff Council, Welsh Government, FinTech Wales and Dyfed Powys Police.

Catherine has collaborated with the Welsh Government on digital skills for Wales, the Welsh Workforce Council to support and educate students to develop their skills and experience in both the digital and STEM education sector in Wales. She is a member of the Wales Digital Alliance which aims to apply a consistent approach to placement and graduate recruitment across the civil service in Wales.

As a Placement & Employability Lead, Catherine works at a strategic level to develop work-based learning policies and opportunities, design and deliver workshops to enhance the employability skills of students and uses innovative techniques to encourage student and employer engagement.

As DDCLI, Catherine collaborates with industry partners to develop strategic partnerships that bring industry input into the degree programmes at the school including degree apprenticeships, work-based learning opportunities, seminars, workshops, guest lectures and flexible learning opportunities for CPD. Her work has been identified as best practice and with an interest in Robotic Process Automation, she has been working with teams across the university to develop automations to free up resources, reduce workload and improve efficiency.

Catherine has presented at conferences on placement and employability including ASET and HEA and was a contributor to the Skills for Information Age version 8 Framework which forms part of the Chartered Institute of IT Professionals.