Professor Catherine Noakes, one of the leading experts in ventilation and the transmission of airborne infection, has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE).
Professor of Environmental Engineering for Buildings at Leeds University, Cath Noakes was recognised for her contribution to research on indoor air quality and the transmission and control of airborne infection. In delivering the citation, Dr Christopher Iddon, Chair of the CIBSE Natural Ventilation Group, said: “The importance of good indoor environments has never been so prominent in public discourse, and Professor Noakes has helped raise this public knowledge through her many national news and radio appearances. It is her lifetime of work, and recent dedication to the national efforts during the pandemic that led the CIBSE Natural Ventilation Special Interest Group to proposed her for an honorary lifetime CIBSE membership.”
Much of the Professor’s work has informed CIBSE and government guidance. Specifically, she supported CIBSE in producing guidance on ventilation for COVID-19, and has contributed to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on ventilation for control of the virus. Her knowledge of ventilation and infection transmission saw her become a key government scientific adviser on COVID-19, and she received an OBE in September 2020. Prof. Noakes co-led the Low Energy Ventilation Network (LEVN), which brought together researchers, industrial practitioners, and students, to set the research agenda for the future of building ventilation. With a strong focus on indoor air quality, her recent studies have involved analysis to model the spread of airborne pathogens and the effectiveness of control devices.
