International Women in Engineering Day

On June 23, UBC Okanagan’s School of Engineering will host a free webinar featuring two esteemed faculty and two alumni to celebrate and raise awareness for International Women in Engineering Day.

Please join us to hear to our amazing speakers discuss how they got to the career they are in as well as their triumphs and challenges. There will be time for audience questions.

International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) is an international awareness campaign which raises the profile of women in engineering and focuses attention on the amazing career opportunities available to girls in this exciting industry. The theme for INWED 2020 is #ShapeTheWorld. Engineers shape the world and help make our planet a better, safer, more innovative, and exciting place to be.

We will also be releasing our new Women in Engineering web page which features profiles on many of our female faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and alumni.

Below is our panelist speakers. Panelist bios located below.

• Mina Hoorfar – Director, School of Engineering
• Sumi Siddiqua – Associate Professor
• Shaylene Dekock [UBCO Alumni] – Electrical Engineer, BC Hydro
• Sabrina Moore [UBCO Alumni] – Civil Engineer

Register Now!

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Please contact Tamara Weninger (tamara.weninger@ubc.ca) to submit any questions ahead of time or if you need support.

Visit the International Women in Engineering Day website for more details on this international campaign.

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MINA HOORFAR

Dr. Hoorfar is a Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of British Columbia Okanagan and the head of the Advanced Thermo-Fluidic Laboratory (AFTL) with diverse research programs providing ample opportunities for the students to work in multidisciplinary areas that straddle concepts of fluid mechanics, physical chemistry (liquid-surface interactions), biochemistry (cell deformation and separation), electrochemistry (fuel cells), advanced imaging (microCT), computational modeling, and fabrication of microstructures. Since its establishment, ATFL has been involved in the implementation of its vast expertise into different applications ranging from renewable energy to sensors and biosensors for human health and environmental monitoring. Dr. Hoorfar’s research in the renewable energy initiated from her expertise obtained during her PDF at CWRU. They have recently applied their expertise to the development of a novel microbial fuel cell for both treatment and energy production from wastewater in remote areas. After joining UBC, Dr. Hoorfar with collaboration with other faculty members established a microfluidics group with interests in the development of portable devices for biomedical applications ranging from DNA purification from saliva, acetone detection from the exhale breath of a diabetes patient, circulating tumor cells detection from the blood of a metastatic patient, and cell patterning on the digital microfluidic platforms for tissue engineering. Another aspect of Dr. Hoorfar’s research endeavors involves the design and fabrication of biosensors and nano-biosensors to achieve low detection limits required for environmental and agricultural applications. She has filed a patent in this area for the detection of pathogen in drinking water.

In 2016, Dr. Hoorfar accepted the position of Director of the School of Engineering.

SUMI SIDDIQUA

Dr. Siddiqua completed her PhD. at Cardiff University in geo-environmental engineering.  Her research focused on developing a thermal-hydraulic-mechanical model for nuclear waster repository design. Dr Siddiqua did her post-doctoral fellowship at the Geotechnical Laboratory of the University of Manitoba.

As the lead researcher at the CFI-funded Advanced Geomaterials Testing Lab on the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia, Dr. Siddiqua and her team research nuclear waste repositories, energy pipelines, chemical stabilization of road subgrade materials, soil nano-particles, soil-water chemistry and the reuse of industry by-products.

Dr Siddiqua has been involved in several Canadian Geotechnical Society committees, and is currently the Chair of the Society’s Education Committee.  She is also active with the Women in Science and Engineering organization at UBC Okanagan.

SHAYLENE DEKOCK-KRUGER

Shaylene Dekock-Kruger is an electrical designer in BC Hydro’s Substation Design department, which delivers safe and reliable substation designs throughout the province.

Shaylene graduated from BC Hydro’s renowned EIT program in 2019 that allowed her to rotate in various departments within the company to gain experience in support of future registration as a P.Eng.

A proud member of the Penticton Indian Band, Shaylene is actively involved in STEM outreach initiatives in local indigenous communities.  Shaylene holds a B.A.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from UBC Okanagan and is a registered Engineer-in-Training in the province of British Columbia.

SABRINA MOORE

Sabrina Moore graduated from UBCO with a degree in civil engineering in 2017. Since then, Sabrina moved back to her home town of Calgary where she began working for 360 Energy Liability Management, an oil and gas liability management firm, as an abandonment engineer. Sabrina is on-track to obtain her P.Eng by early 2021.  She has two French Bulldogs, named Gus and Hank, and visits Kelowna as often as she can.