Kemble Primary School is celebrating the work of Dr Chen Mao Davies, who has won the prestigious Women in Innovation Award from Innovate UK.

Dr Chen Mao Davies is the parent of a current student at the school and has today (February 14) had a purple plaque in her honour unveiled on the school site.

A twist on the familiar blue plaques, Innovate UK is introducing purple plaques to recognise the achievements of some of the female innovators it supports who have won its prestigious Women in Innovation Award.

The award also sees recipients receive a cash injection of £50,000 and bespoke mentoring to scale up and bring to market their pioneering business ideas.

Currently, just 14 per cent of blue plaques in the UK celebrate the achievements of women. This highlights a national issue of the under-representation of women in the media, the workplace and in the education system, resulting in a lack of relatable role models for children and young people. Innovate UK hopes the plaque will inspire pupils at the school to follow in Chen's footsteps.

Chen won the Women in Innovation Award in 2020 with her award-winning app LatchAid, which provides 24/7 breastfeeding and parenthood support using pioneering 3D and AI technology.

She is one of a network of 64 Women in Innovation Award winners who are developing pioneering innovations to tackle pressing societal, environmental and economic challenges; from delivering precision medicine to underrepresented populations, to offering eco-friendly materials for the aerospace industry and creating cutting-edge digital educational tools.