Cate trained in 3-D Design, Glass with Ceramics at Sunderland Polytechnic. After leaving college Cate worked in Cambridge and the Channel Islands before returning to the north east to set up her architectural glass studio. Cate continues to run her practice through Watkinson Glass Associates, while lecturing part time at the University of Sunderland. She is involved in the design and fabrication of architectural glass artworks both ecclesiastical and secular. Over the years Cate has built on her experience as an architectural glass artist, optimising developments in new technologies and research into new developments and techniques in construction. During this period she has been instrumental in developing the potential of glass in the public realm. Her research interests lie in the exploration around the themes of light, environments and processes. These include the relationships between glass and the environment and ways of placing glass within different settings. The work integrates new technologies with text, imagery and light and involves new ways of working with the materials.