Women in engineering: Helen Duncan’s journey from design engineer to CEO

Helen Duncan’s father took her to a trade show in London when she was 10 years old. She was fascinated by watching CNC machines make large mechanical parts without human involvement. Her father worked in mechanical engineering as a skilled toolmaker and later as an estimator, and he encouraged Helen to help him with car maintenance.

Helen Duncan is CEO of Blueshift Memory, a Cambridge, England-based design outfit that optimizes memory architecture to more efficiently handle large datasets and time-critical data. Its Cambridge Architecture for stored-program machines is designed to replace the current modified Harvard architecture and to overcome the traditional constraints of the von Neumann bottleneck.

Helen was talking to EDN on the eve of “International Women in Engineering Day,” which is celebrated on 23 June this year. When asked what motivated her to enter the engineering world, she pointed to physics being one of her favorite subjects in high school. “When we had to make an electric motor from scratch in a practical lesson, mine was the only one in the class that worked,” she recalled. “I was thrilled by this.”

At 13, Helen decided that electrical and electronic engineering was what she wanted to study. The more some of her teachers tried to discourage her, the more determined she became to pursue that course. “My wonderful physics teacher, Mr. Wood, a Star Trek fan, was unfailingly supportive though,” Helen acknowledged.

In the field

Helen joined the workforce in the late 1970s when only 1-2% of electronics engineers were women. “With a good degree, I had a choice of several jobs, and I accepted a position as an R&D engineer with Plessey, working on RF and microwave projects for both defense and commercial applications,” she told EDN.

Over there, direction-sensing Doppler radar modules for automatic door openers were an early design project. Later, she became a product engineering manager and hence the design authority for all the company’s microwave source products, including two mmWave subsystems for airborne radar. During those days, there was only one other female engineer working alongside Helen: a Turkish lady a few years older than her, who had a PhD from Oxford University.

Figure 1 Helen Duncan began her design work on RF and microwave projects for defense and commercial applications.

By the mid-1980s, Plessey had recruited several new graduate engineers, and surprisingly, women then made up around 25% of the engineering department, much more than the national average, which was still less than 10% at that time. “I like to think that, as I was a member of the interview panel, they were encouraged to see me as a role model who was already in a management position,” Helen recounted.

Mistaken as a caterer

When asked about the challenges of being a minority in those early days and the advantages as well, Helen said she was incredibly lucky to have some very supportive managers. “Within the company, I was unfailingly treated with respect.”

However, sometimes it was more of a problem with outsiders meeting her for the first time. Helen recalled a senior Royal Air Force officer visiting with a defense procurement team; he mistook her for a member of the catering staff, but then instantly recognized his mistake when she stood up to give a presentation.

When asked for a piece of advice she could give to young female engineers entering the electronics industry, Helen said: Believe in yourself and your abilities, and don’t allow others to undermine you or try to mansplain. “Always remain open to any opportunities that may come along, as your career may not always take the course you would expect,” she added.

Figure 2 EDN spoke with Helen Duncan, CEO of Blueshift Memory, on the eve of the “International Women in Engineering Day,” observed on June 23, 2026.

Career advice for female engineers

EDN concluded the talk with Helen by asking her which areas and disciplines female engineers should consider for long-term career prospects. “In general, I would say that no disciplines are off limits for female engineers,” she said. “However, it can be easier to progress in some of the areas that require better communication skills or a more consultative management style.”

She recalled her career trajectory over the years: she has worked in marketing at both Plessey and Rohm, and then in journalism as editor-in-chief of Microwave Engineering. “I have also been a semiconductor market analyst, a technical conference organizer, and a marketing consultant,” she said. “And I managed some of these roles concurrently.”

Most recently, Helen was headhunted for a marketing role at Blueshift Memory and later became CEO. Blueshift targets its smart memory architecture at CPU vendors, AI chip companies, and memory manufacturers; it can be used in combination with GPUs or AI accelerators, or anywhere the von Neumann bottleneck is a problem.

Figure 3 Blueshift Memory appointed Helen Duncan as its CEO in October 2024.

My career has been full of surprise opportunities and unexpected role changes, but it’s been an exciting journey,” she concluded. “And if I were starting today, I wouldn’t change anything.” That’s quite a career statement.

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