Engineering grad from B.C. awarded Polytechnique's Order of the White Rose
The annual Order of the White Rose was awarded to an engineering student from British Columbia on Monday.
Every year for nearly a decade, Polytechnique Montreal has given the scholarship to a remarkable Canadian female engineering student in memory of the 14 female engineering students killed at the school on Dec. 6, 1989.
This year's recipient is Amelia Dai, a chemical engineering graduate from UBC.
"This award is a tribute to the 14 women that lost their lives in the tragedy of 1989 and it's also a call to action to everyone to come together to imagine, design and built a more inclusive and diverse community for the future," she said.
The $50,000 scholarship will help her continue her PhD studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
"Big picture, I would like to focus my energy on developing sustainable energy, likely electric chemistry, likely on batteries," she said.
The white rose has become a symbol commemorating the attack at Ecole Polytechnique 34 years ago when the engineering students were gunned down because they were women.
Supporting women in engineering is deeply personal for survivor Nathalie Provost.
"We need them. Their point of view, the way they work is a bit different, and I think we are less about competition and more about finding solutions together and that's really important," she said.
Women engineers continue to be underrepresented in the field.
While more women are graduating from engineering programs than in 1989, change has been slow but steady.
At Polytechnique, 32 per cent of engineering undergrads last year were women.
"We know we want to go further and faster, but it's really deep work that we need to do in schools, making sure we initiate women to STEM, making sure they understand that engineering is a promising profession for them," said Maud Cohen, Polytechnique Montreal's first-ever female president.
Dai said she is passionate about promoting inclusion and diversity among engineers and the communities they serve.
"The people we're designing a problem for may not be from the same background as us, so it's important for us to take the time to learn who exactly each person is, rather than having some sort of assumption based on prejudice," she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Sick to my stomach': People grieve Jasper National Park by sharing favourite photos
As an out-of-control wildfire roared through Alberta’s famed Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday, many are fearing the worst as officials warned of 'significant loss' within the area.
LIVE UPDATES 'Hopefully it's better than what we're thinking': Jasper wildfire damage details anxiously awaited
Officials are waiting to learn Thursday morning the extent of wildfire damage in the Jasper townsite of Jasper National Park, which flames began to eat away at the night before.
Canadian women's soccer team staffer given suspended prison sentence over drone incident, prosecutor says
A Canada women's soccer team staffer has been given an eight-month suspended prison sentence after flying a drone to film the closed-door training session of the New Zealand team on Monday, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
Sale of envoy's NYC condo 'expected to exceed' $9M: government
The current official residence for Canada's representative in New York City is 'being readied for sale,' according to a spokesperson from Global Affairs Canada.
Jasper wildfire burns buildings, while poor air quality forces some fire crews out
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
'I'm so broke': Two Toronto women speak out after losing $76,000 in romance scam
Two women from the Toronto area are speaking out after losing thousands of dollars to a romance scam, including a single mother who lost $62,000.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Loblaw to settle class action over bread price-fixing for $500 million
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. and its parent company George Weston Ltd. say they have agreed to pay $500 million to settle a pair of class-action lawsuits regarding their involvement in an alleged bread price-fixing scheme.
EXCLUSIVE One address, 76 foreign currency dealers: Inside Canada's money service business 'clusters'
An IJF and CTV News investigation has found dozens of cases across Canada where multiple money services businesses (MSBs) are incorporated at the same address, sometimes without the knowledge or consent of the location's actual occupant. One money laundering expert calls it an 'abuse of the system.'