A doctoral candidate in chemical engineering received $30,000 on Monday from the Order of the White Rose, a scholarship offered as part of the commemorations of the Polytechnique massacre.
Sophia Roy then becomes the eighth recipient of this scholarship awarded annually to a Canadian student wishing to pursue graduate studies in engineering.
“Taking the measure of the talent and female leadership in engineering demonstrated by the winners of the Order of the White Rose competition gives me the greatest pleasure. The presence of women in science and engineering is highly beneficial to our society, and such positive role models help to strengthen it,” said Michèle Thibodeau-DeGuire, the first woman to graduate in civil engineering from Polytechnique in 1963 and godmother of the Sotck exchange.
Having obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at McGill University, Sophia Roy is now interested in methods for decarbonizing steel as part of her doctoral thesis at Polytechnique. In addition to standing out for her academic results, she stands out for her research. One of his articles was one of the most downloaded from the Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering in 2020.
“The example of Sophia, who embodies these values and realizes herself as a woman in the world of engineering and as a citizen, is the best argument in favor of the promotion of women in science. It encourages young women tempted by genius to allow themselves all dreams and to give themselves the power to realize them,” mentioned Nathalie Provost, survivor of the Polytechnique massacre.
For Ms. Roy, receiving this scholarship is an honor, since she feels she owes a great deal to the women who have opened the door for women in the field of engineering.
“This distinction encourages me to continue to give my best as a woman scientist and to do my part to fight prejudice, in order to remove the obstacles that still face many young women who would like to engage in science. way of engineering and science, ”said the doctoral candidate in chemical engineering, she who began her studies in the field a year after the anti-feminist attack at Polytechnique.