AN ENGINEER with more than four decades of experience in her field says her awarding of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year Honours is a shock.

Dr Liane Smith, founder and director of Larkton Ltd – based in Malpas – was made a CBE as part of the 2022 honours list for her services to engineering and materials sciences.

She admitted that she had to tell her husband of her great honour but says the rest of the family discovered the news when it was confirmed shortly before New Year's Day.

She said she was delighted.

"I found out about one month ago – I couldn’t keep it a secret from my husband but nobody else knew so it’s going to be a lot of fun on New Year's Day," said Dr Smith.

"My two sons are with me for their Christmas break so it’s going to be marvellous (watching them find out)."

She added: "But this is absolutely stunning – it’s amazing.

"I never dreamt of it – I have received in the past from the North America Corrosion Engineering Association and an honorary fellowship from the European Corrosion Engineering Association, which is very nice.

"But those were what you’d call were peer awards from colleagues who know me and completely different from an out of the blue award getting this honour.

"This is unbelievable – I am just thrilled about it and it is a fantastic culmination of my career."

Dr Smith explained why she has been recognised for her work.

She said: "It’s for services to materials and engineering – I’m a materials engineer and have been working as one for about 40 years.

"Along the way, I’ve prepared international standards, I’ve collaborated with people to put together big changes in the way that people select materials for projects.

"That’s been transformation in safety ways, ensuring less environmental damage and nothing getting lost.

"We work in the process industry so it’s high pressure, high temperature inflammable liquids that can be toxic so you don’t want them to get out of the plant.

"The work that I’ve done, along with other people, has much reduced the risks of what’s happening and I’m very proud of what we’ve achieved."