Elinor Hughes studied for a Bachelors in Electronic Systems and Microcomputer Engineering from Glasgow University, specialising in Digital Systems and encountering sound recording and acoustics. On graduating in 1994, she came to ISVR to study for a MSc in Sound and Vibration Studies, where she was sponsored by The Society for Promoting the Training of Women. She specialised in Signal Processing and Control, and her three month project involved using of ultrasound to determine the structural details of porous bone. This project concluded that ultrasonic propagation was affected by the porous structure, but further fundamental work was needed. Based on these conclusions, she was granted a 3-year PhD Studentship from the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science over 1995-1998, to study the problem in more depth supervised by Professor Leighton and Dr White. During this project she proposed a new theory for ultrasound in bone and was able to observe propagation phenomena in practice. The team (Hughes, Leighton, White and Dr Petley of Southampton General Hospital) was recently awarded a grant for $146k from the Engineering and Physcial Sciences Research Council to develop a new type of ultrasonic system based on her doctoral research.