Alison Scott, a chemical engineering MASc candidate and engineering outreach volunteer, has been awarded the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation's Vale Master's Scholarship. Each year, the prestigious scholarship of $10,000 is awarded to one woman enrolled full-time in an engineering master’s program at a Canadian university.
Part of the scholarship’s 11-part application process was to produce a video about why she became an engineer. Now, as the recipient of the scholarship, Scott is required to share her story in at least two high school classrooms – a role she’s thrilled to take on.
“It’s really important to me to act as a role model and mentor for younger girls and show them that anything is possible when you put your mind to it,” she says. “Through Women in Engineering and Engineering Science Quest’s Girls Club program I’ve been able to act as a sounding board for girls who may not otherwise see themselves in engineering programs later in life.”
Mary Wells, Engineering's Associate Dean of Outreach, describes Scott as a dynamic person whose passion is contagious.
"Over the past few years, she has made a difference in outreach initiatives including our Girls Club program, Women in Engineering events such as GoEngGirl and our Girl Guides Badge Day," says Wells. "My daughter in Grade 6 had Alison as an ESQ leader. By the end of the week she wanted to be just like Alison when she grew up. I can't think of a higher endorsement on the effect she is having on today’s youth, especially on young women."
To apply for the scholarship, applicants needed to demonstrate an interest and desire to work in the mining/metallurgical fields of engineering. Scott’s graduate research in polymer reaction engineering includes a wide variety of topics such as controlled radical polymerization and water-soluble copolymer and terpolymer systems, some of which have applications in the mining industry.
Scott says her scholarship that comes with a $10,000 award and an internship with Vale, a global mining company, has allowed her to look into ways her mining background and polymer interests can intersect.
“It’s amazing how everything has come together, including my passion for engineering outreach and education,” she says.