About Us

Monique Frize is Distinguished Professor (retired) at Carleton University and Professor Emerita at the University of Ottawa. She was a clinical engineer (1971-1989) and a Professor since 1989. Monique published over 200 papers on artificial intelligence in medicine, infrared imaging, ethics, and women in engineering and science. She is Fellow and Life Member of IEEE (2012), Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (1992), Fellow of Engineers Canada (2010), Officer of the Order of Canada (1993), and recipient of the 2010 Gold Medal from Professional Engineers Ontario and the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers. She received five honourary doctorates. Monique held the national Northern Telecom/NSERC Chair for women in engineering at the University of New Brunswick (1989-1997), and the NSERC/Nortel Chair for women in science and engineering for Ontario (1997-2002). A founding member of INWES (International Network of women engineers and scientists), she was president (2002-2008). A founding member of the INWES Education and Research Institute (now Canadian Institute for Women in Engineering and Science), she is president since 2007. Her books: The Bold and the Brave: A history of women in science and engineering was published by University of Ottawa Press in 2009 and her Memoirs in 2019.

Claire Deschênes is currently professeur associée at Laval University since she retired in April 2019. 

In 1989, she was hired as the first woman professor in engineering at the Faculty of sciences and engineering of Laval University (Canada), where she founded the Hydraulic Machine Laboratory (LAMH) and the Consortium in hydraulic machines. In 2015, she received the NSERC Synergy Award for innovation – two or more industries, on behalf of the Consortium in Hydraulic Machines.

Prof. Deschênes is member of the Order of Canada and Fellow of Engineers Canada. She received two Honorary Doctorates, from University of Ottawa and Université de Sherbrooke. 

Claire Deschênes was holder of one of the NSERC Chair for women in science and engineering from 1997 to 2005. As such, she was member or Chair of numerous boards. She is co-founder of three non-profit organizations of women in S&E: Affestim, CIWES (former INWES-ERI) and INWES.

Over her career, she published more that 100 scientific papers and conferences. Over 50 graduated students and 80 undergrad students were trained in LAMH for the benefit of the Canadian industry.

Ruby Heap is currently Professor Emerita at the University of Ottawa’s Department of History.  During her career, Ruby committed herself to the development of Francophone and Anglophone scholarship and student training in the fields of educational history and of women’s and gender history. She co-founded (1989) and co-edited the journal Historical Studies in Education/Revue d’histoire de l’éducation, and was appointed in 1999 as Founding Director of the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Women’s Studies. She then served as associate dean at the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and, more recently, as associate vice-president, research. During this period, Ruby also began researching the still largely unknown history of women in Canadian engineering. Through her involvement with the INWES Education and Research Institute (INWES-ERI), she also advocated the interdisciplinary study of women in STEM, and called for the creation of a national Archive devoted to their history in Canada, a project that came to fruition in 2018.

 Ruby Heap is the recipient of the Professional Engineers of Ontario’s President Award (2010), of the Order of Academic Palms from the French Republic (2016) and of the Royal Society of Canada’s Ursula Franklin Prize in Gender Studies (2018).

Peggy Layne, P.E., retired from Virginia Tech in 2019 after serving as Assistant Provost for Faculty Development and director of the AdvanceVT program, a National Science Foundation sponsored program to increase the number and success of women faculty in science and engineering. As director of Virginia Tech’s NSF ADVANCE program, she led initiatives to increase gender equity in faculty hiring, development, retention, and advancement. Ms. Layne has degrees in environmental and water resources engineering and science and technology studies. She spent 17 years as a consulting engineer in the fields of water and wastewater treatment and hazardous waste management, and a year as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the United States Senate, where she was responsible for water, wastewater, and solid and hazardous waste policy issues for Senator Bob Graham. A registered professional engineer, Layne served as president of the Society of Women Engineers in 1996-97. She is the editor of Women in Engineering: Pioneers and Trailblazers, and Women in Engineering: Professional Life published by ASCE Press in 2009, and a contributor to the Society of Women Engineers’ review of scholarly literature on women in engineering published annually in SWE Magazine.

Marina Bokovay is a professional archivist with over 10 years experience working in the fields of archives and records management.  Marina has degrees from Queen’s University, Kingston and the University of Toronto.

Marina is the current Head of Archives and Special Collections at the University of Ottawa Library, a role she has been in since April 2018. In her short time at uOttawa, she oversaw the launch of the Canadian Archive of Women in STEM initiative and the building of a new database that amalgamates information about the archives of women in STEM from across the country.   

Prior to uOttawa, Marina was the Archivist and Records Manager for Victoria University in the University of Toronto and spent 7 years with the Ontario Government before that.  

Marina has a strong interest in preserving the documentary heritage of women in Canada and ensuring that researchers are connected with the information they need.  Besides the Archive of Women in STEM initiative, Marina’s current focus is around digital records preservation and ensuring that records on legacy formats are not lost.

Troy Eller English is the archivist for the Society of Women Engineers, based at the Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University in Detroit. Since becoming the SWE archivist in 2008, she has worked to raise the profile and relevance of the archives in celebrating the achievements of the Society and its members, supporting the Society’s current mission, and informing its future decision-making. She is also producer for Tales from the Reuther Library, of a podcast featuring stories about labor history, Detroit, and Wayne State University, as told by the Reuther’s archivists and researchers. Outside the Reuther, Eller English is co-editor for the Michigan Archival Association newsletter; serves on the steering committee for To Boldly Preserve, an organization working to preserve the history of American space flight; and consults on archives for the Detroit Curling Club and the U.S. Women’s Curling Association.

Sandra Corbeil is the Director Strategic Partnerships and Networks for Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation. Sandra has more than 25 years working as an education, communication, and outreach leader and is a member of a number of national organisations that promote partnership and collaboration in STEM ecosystem.  She is responsible for the creation of Ingenium’s award-winning Summer Institute for Elementary Teachers and most recently led Ingenium’s Women in STEM initiative which includes a travelling exhibition, free online posters and resources as well as a series of Instagram Videos showcasing women in STEM.  She has a strong interest in advocating for equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

Rumina Velshi is President and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. She was appointed for a five-year term in August 2018. She began her service on the Commission in 2011 as a Commission member. She has also served as a Board member on the Ontario Energy Board.

Previously, Rumina worked in the nuclear industry, holding progressive positions of responsibility at Ontario Hydro and Ontario Power Generation. 

Rumina is very active in the promotion of STEM careers, especially for young women. She served as Vice Chair on the Board of Directors of Scientists in School and has been a dedicated ambassador for Women in Nuclear for many years. She was a founding member of Canada’s Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) organization.

As CNSC President, she brings attention to the need and benefits of gender diversity in the nuclear industry through her many speaking engagements across Canada and the world. She is currently leading several initiatives to advance women in STEM careers in nuclear energy, one of which is called DAWN: Driving the Advancement of Women in Nuclear.  

Rumina holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering, a Master of Nuclear Engineering, and a Master of Business Administration, all from the University of Toronto.