Ing. Bonnie Attard received her B.Eng (Hons.) degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Malta in 2012 followed by a MSc. in Mechanical Engineering in 2014. She joined Baxter in 2014 as an R&D engineer working on various high-profile projects involving product design changes. In 2015 she was appointed as a systems engineer with the Institute for Sustainable Energy, part of a team performing the commissioning of the laboratories and thereafter involved in application of thin films and surface characterisation for solar cell technology. During this time, she was also teaching and developing course content for undergraduate students at MCAST on topics related to sustainable energy. She started her PhD studies in 2017 with the University of Birmingham funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and endorsed by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. Her research involved investigating the feasibility of microstructural control through additive manufacturing of nickel-based superalloy Inconel718 to generate functional grading. This work included close collaborations with the ESI group based in Germany and Materials Engineering Group at the Open University. During this time, she also worked on several external projects in collaboration with Rolls Royce and also with the Department of Materials at Imperial College on additive manufacturing. She has participated in multiple conferences and to date has published several publications. She has been actively involved in teaching students at undergraduate level during this period and holds an Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. She was appointed as assistant lecturer in 2020 with the University of Malta. Her current research interests include alloys used for high temperature and high-performance applications and additive manufacturing of metallic materials with the optimisation of their properties. Bonnie represents the engineering profession as the secretary general for the Chamber of Engineers. In this capacity she is closely involved in outreach programs aimed to kindle the interest of young people in engineering and STEM. Additionally, she is also involved in creating opportunities for current engineering students to learn about engineering at the work place and meet engineers who can share their work experiences.
