Professor Dowling read for undergraduate and graduate degrees in mathematics and a doctorate in engineering at the University of Cambridge. She rose to become its first female Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the first woman to head the Department of Engineering. Her research focuses on efficient, low-emission combustion for aero and industrial gas turbines and low-noise vehicles, especially aircraft and cars.

Her publications range from problem-defining fundamental papers to descriptions of the technology behind successful practical applications. She has led major research collaborations into some of the big issues facing modern societies, such as the Energy Efficient Cities initiative and the Silent Aircraft Initiative. She ran the University Gas Turbine Partnership with Rolls–Royce over 13 years, and has held visiting posts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology.

“I was surprised and very honoured when the Department commissioned my portrait,” Professor Dowling said. “It was a delight being painted by Beka Smith and I am very pleased with the outcome. It was great to see so many of those I had worked with as Head of Department present at the unveiling.”

In 2014 she was appointed President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the first woman to hold the post. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Foreign Member of the US National Academy of Engineering and of the French Academy of Sciences, and an Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and of the Institution of Engineering Designers.

The portrait was commissioned and produced by artist Beka Smith. Beka graduated from the University of West of England. Her other works in Cambridge include her portraits in Fitzwilliam College of Dr Leslie Wayper, Nicky Padfield, and Professor Robert Lethbridge.