Sarah Springman facts for kids

Sarah Springman (2019)

Dame Sarah Marcella Springman DBE FREng (born 26 December 1956) is an amazing British-Swiss triathlete, a smart civil engineer, and a respected academic. She grew up and went to school in England, but she spent a lot of her career in Switzerland. She used to be the head of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and now she is the Principal of St Hilda's College at the famous University of Oxford.

Early Life and Education

Sarah Springman was born in London in 1956. She went to a school called Wycombe Abbey. Later, she even helped run the school for a few years.

She loved engineering and studied it at Girton College, Cambridge, from 1975 to 1978. She earned a degree in engineering sciences. Then, she continued her studies at St Catharine's College, focusing on something called soil mechanics. This is about how soil behaves when you build on it.

Sarah kept learning and earned her doctorate degree from Magdalene College, Cambridge between 1984 and 1989. Her research was about how soil and structures interact.

Before becoming a professor, she worked as an engineer from 1979 to 1983. She helped with big projects in England, Australia, and Fiji. One of her main projects was the Monasavu Dam in Viti Levu, Fiji. In 1983, she became a qualified professional engineer, which is called a chartered engineer.

A Career in Academia

Sarah Springman started her academic journey as a student at Cambridge University. She was the very first female research fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1990, she became a university lecturer.

Since 1997, she has been a professor of geotechnical engineering at ETH Zürich in Switzerland. Geotechnical engineering is a part of civil engineering that deals with the behavior of earth materials. From 2013 to 2014, she was also the Deputy Head of her department. On January 1, 2015, she became the Rector (like a head) of ETH Zürich.

Sarah also worked on projects to help students learn better using computers. One project was called CALICE (Computer Aided Learning in Civil Engineering). It helped improve how soil mechanics was taught. Later, this project grew into something called GeoTIP (GeoTechnical Information Platform).

Her research mainly focuses on how soil and structures interact. This includes designing things like abutments (parts of bridges), pile foundations (deep supports for buildings), and improving soft soils. She uses special methods, like physical models in a geotechnical centrifuge, to study these problems. Her team at ETH Zürich uses a large centrifuge to test different engineering ideas.

Sarah is a big supporter of women getting into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields. She often takes part in events that encourage girls to study these subjects. In 2021, it was announced that she would become the Principal of St Hilda's College, Oxford. She started this new role in February 2022.

Amazing Sporting Achievements

Besides being a brilliant engineer, Sarah Springman is also a fantastic athlete! She competed for Great Britain in triathlon from 1983 to 1993. Triathlon is a sport that combines swimming, cycling, and running.

She competed in the 1990 Commonwealth Games Triathlon in New Zealand. She also won twenty medals in triathlon and duathlon (running and cycling) at the European Championships.

Sarah was the Vice-President of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) from 1992 to 1996. During this time, she played a huge role in making triathlon an Olympic sport and a recognized sport for the Commonwealth Games. She stepped down as President of British Triathlon in 2012, after celebrating Team GB winning their first triathlon medals at the 2012 Olympic Games. In 2013, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to sports.

She is also part of the International Olympic Committee's Sustainability and Legacy Commission. In 2016, she was chosen to present medals at the Olympic triathlon in Rio de Janeiro. The International Triathlon Union honored her by adding her to their Hall of Fame in 2019.

In 1994, Sarah started rowing. She has won many medals in rowing, including at the British Rowing Championships and the Swiss National Rowing Championships. She has also won the Masters CRASH-B World Indoor Rowing sprints three times. She holds world and British records for indoor rowing in her age group!

Honours and Awards

Sarah Springman has received many important awards for her work in engineering and sports.

• In 1997, she was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).
• In 2012, she became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
• In 2022, she received the highest honor, becoming a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). This is why she is called "Dame Sarah."

She also has honorary doctorates from several universities, including Bath, Berne, Sheffield, and Wollongong. She is an Honorary Fellow of all three Cambridge Colleges she attended.

Here are some other recognitions:

• 2009: She became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
• 2013: She received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year Awards.
• 2025: She will give the Karl Terzaghi Lecture, which is a very important lecture in geotechnical engineering.

See also

In Spanish: Sarah Springman para niños