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
'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Student anti-war protesters dig in as faculties condemn university leadership over calling police
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at at universities across U.S., some of whom have clashed with police in riot gear, dug in Saturday and vowed to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties condemned university presidents who have called in law enforcement to remove protesters.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.