An alumnus of Waterloo Engineering aiming for a career in avionics and national defense has won a $50,000 scholarship to pursue graduate studies.
Megan Chang (BASc ’25, mechatronics engineering) was one of 14 female winners nation-wide through a program created to remember the 14 women murdered by a misogynist at École Polytechnique (now Polytechnique Montréal) on Dec. 6, 1989.
Polytechnique Montréal announced the winners this week, awarding 14 scholarships for the first time since its Order of the White Rose program was launched in 2014. Previously, only one $50,000 award was made each year.
"It is important to honour the memory of the women whose lives were cut short in December 1989,” Valérie Bélisle, the vice president of philanthropy and alumni relations, said in a media release.
“And it is equally important to look ahead and do our utmost to make sure women studying engineering - the women engineers of the future - can claim their rightful place in Quebec and Canada."
Chang has dreamed of flying planes since childhood and led the Waterloo Space Research Team in microgravity research and development of a student project with the Canadian Space Agency and the National Research Council.
She was also a medal-winning varsity rower, involved with the Women in Engineering Committee and author of a student leadership guide. She plans to do graduate studies in electrical and computer engineering.
The winners were selected by the deans of six Canadian engineering faculties, including Dr. Mary Wells of Waterloo, based on the academic records, technical achievements and “commitment to the common good” of candidates entering master’s or doctoral engineering programs.