The award recognizes a member or affiliate of the University of Waterloo community whose actions have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to improving equity, inclusivity, and/or diversity at the University of Waterloo. Waterloo's Women in Engineering committee is chaired by Mary Wells, a mechanical and mechatronics engineering professor and the associate dean, outreach.
"The award reflects the culmination of the committee's many years of work and the focus both the committee and the Faculty of Engineering have had on issues around women in engineering and ways to create a more diverse Faculty," says Wells who is the current chair of the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering. "It's also a celebration of the work Waterloo Engineering has accomplished in terms of diversity, and promoting, encouraging and supporting women in the Faculty."
Increase in first year women students
The Women in Engineering committee was formed in 1991 and since then staff, faculty and students have been working to increase the participation of women in engineering. And the results are apparent.
"In the past few years we've gone from 16 per cent women in engineering in first year to 21 per cent," says Wells. "We've been building towards this over a number of years."
Wells attributes a number of initiatives to the increase in women in Waterloo Engineering, including the Go Eng Girl program run across the country at schools offering engineering programs (held last month Waterloo's program was the largest in Ontario) and the Faculty's Catalyst girls' conference program.
Wells pointed out that government and company partnership programs are also helping contribute to the increase of women in engineering.
Last March, Hydro One announced a Women in Engineering University Partnership program that will help Waterloo and three other universities break down silos and work together to address the issues faced in attracting and retaining women in the engineering field. In September, Shell Canada made a new investment in Waterloo Engineering through the Shell Campus Ambassador program. The program’s donation funds a number of extremely important student activities, including Women in Engineering initiatives.