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
Loblaw leaders push back on 'misguided criticism' of grocer as boycott begins
Loblaw's new chief executive, as well as chairman Galen Weston, pushed back on what they called 'misguided criticism' of the grocer as a push to boycott the company gains steam online.
TD Bank hit with $9.2M penalty after failing to report suspicious transactions
Canada's financial intelligence agency says it has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
There's a limit to how much interest rates in Canada and U.S. can diverge: Macklem
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem says Canadian interest rates don't have to match U.S. or global rates, but there is a limit to how much they can diverge.
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.
Airbnb's Icons allow you to drift off in the 'Up' house or rest in Prince's 'Purple Rain' mansion
The vacation destination rental company announced a new category of 'Icons,' a collection of 'extraordinary experiences hosted by the greatest names in music, film, television, art, sports, and more.'
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.