OnlyFromNZ
Paul Sinclair and Professor Karen Willcox
July 8, 2026
Today on Kiwi Flees I talk to Professor Karen Willcox, a world leader in computational engineering and Director of the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering & Sciences at the University of Texas.
Karen grew up in a modest household with parents who didn’t finish high school. She was the first person in her extended family to attend university, studying engineering at the University of Auckland while working 27-hour weeks at McDonald’s to pay her way.
From there, she left Aotearoa New Zealand for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she completed her PhD in Aeronautics & Astronautics. She went on to spend 17 years as a professor at MIT before moving to Texas to lead the Oden Institute, an interdisciplinary research institute bringing together computing, mathematics, science, engineering, and medicine to help model, simulate, and solve some of the world’s most complex problems.
Our conversation tracks Karen’s journey from a girl watching Star Wars who dreamed of becoming an astronaut, but wasn’t encouraged into traditionally male worlds of mechanics, racing, engineering, or flight, to nearly becoming the first Kiwi in space.
We talk about the teachers who saw her potential, playing women’s rugby in the US, her year at Boeing, and the mentors who helped shape her path. Karen also reflects on mentoring others, the persistent lack of women in aerospace engineering, and why opening doors for the next generation has become such an important part of her work.
In 2017, Karen was made a MNZM for services to aerospace engineering & education. She was later elected to the US National Academy of Engineering, one of the highest professional honours an engineer can receive.
This is a conversation about class, gender, science, ambition, disappointment, flight, and what can happen when a young Kiwi is told certain worlds are not for her, but keeps looking to the skies.
A huge thanks to Karen for joining me on Kiwi Flees.
