Natasha McCarthy is Associate Director, National Engineering Policy Centre, at the Royal Academy of Engineering. The National Engineering Policy Centre connects policy makers with critical engineering expertise to inform and respond to policy issues of national importance, giving policymakers a route to advice from across the whole profession. Her team leads work to inform policy decisions on critical challenges, from decarbonisation to creating safe autonomous systems.

Prior to this, she was Head of Policy at the Royal Society, where she led the Society’s work on data and digital technology, covering issues including the governance of AI, digital technology’s role in decarbonisation and enabling well-governed access to data. She was previously Head of Policy at the British Academy; Director of Education and subsequently Honorary Lecturer at UCL’s Department of Science, Technology, Engineering and Public Policy; and began her policy career at the Royal Academy of Engineering.

She has a background in philosophy of science and taught at the University of St Andrews. Natasha is author of Engineering: A Beginner’s Guide, a tour of the social, cultural and historical impact of engineering; co-editor of the Springer publication Philosophy and Engineering: Reflections on Practice, Principles and Process; and has authored several papers spanning engineering, technology, policy and philosophy.