Today, if a woman gets into the driver’s seat of most cars, they are 73 percent more likely than a man to be severely injured if the car crashes. They are also 17 percent more likely to die. (New York Times, Dec. 2021)
This statistic just scratches the surface to many design flaws in engineering that are based in non-inclusive practices. In a panel conversation format, we will learn about Allie and Michelle’s personal lived experience and their fascinating work in building empathy and awareness while dismantling normativity in technological design processes to ensure effective and inclusive futures in engineering.
With special guests:
Allie Kennington, BASc, EIT (they/them) Environmental EIT at AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC Lavalin), MASc Candidate at UWaterloo, and Queer Engineering Advocate
Michelle Liu, P.Eng, JD, MASc, LEED-GA (they/them) Engineer, speaker, lawyer-to-be, EDI advocate, Trudeau & Vanier Scholar, Engineering PhD '25, Professional Engineers Ontario Councillor, Law Society of Ontario Equity Advisory Group, OSPE EDIA Co-Chair, EDI & climate competencies in STEM
Allie Kennington (they/them) is an environmental engineer-in-training at AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC-Lavalin) in Ottawa. They specialize in hydrogeology, site assessment and remediation, and environmental regulation and compliance. Allie earned their BASc in Geological Engineering from the University of Waterloo and is currently pursuing a Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering at the same institution. Their research focuses on enhancing the inclusivity of diverse and marginalized users through an empathetic engineering design process.
Allie is an avid advocate for broadening the scope of inclusivity in engineering. Their advocacy aims to extend diversity measures in the profession beyond the reductive gender binary to encompass transgender and gender nonconforming practitioners.
Michelle Liu (they/them) is a queer, racialized, and non-binary engineer, speaker, advocate/activist, soon-to-be lawyer, researcher, and settler on traditional Algonquin territories. Michelle earned their Honours BASc and MASc in civil engineering from the University of Waterloo, after which they worked in construction and design for various national and multi-national consulting engineering firms. Michelle went on to pursue their law degree (JD’ 23) and engineering PhD simultaneously at the University of Ottawa
Michelle gives back to their communities by serving as a Councillor of Professional Engineers Ontario, Co-Chair of the EDIA Task Force of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Chair of the Waterloo Recent Engineering Alumni Council, and mentor with the Ontario Network for Women in Engineering. Michelle co-created and co-funds the Liu-Kennington Award for the 2SLGBTQ+ Engineering Community, Canada’s first university-level scholarship for 2SLGBTQ+ engineering students. Engineers Canada named Michelle one of thirteen EDI Leaders in Engineering Workplaces in 2021-2022.
Conception technique en ingénierie: vers l’inclusion et l’appartenance pour tout le monde
Avec:
Allie Kennington, BASc, EIT (iel) EIT environnementalx chez AtkinsRéalis (anciennement SNC Lavalin), candidatx MASc à UWaterloo et activiste queer
Michelle Liu, P.Eng, JD, MASc, LEED-GA (iel)Ingénieurx, Conférencièrx, Boursièrx Trudeau et Vanier, Doctoratx en génie '25, Conseillerx d'Ingénieurs professionnels de l'Ontario, Groupe consultatif sur l'équité du Barreau de l'Ontario, Coprésidentx de l'OSPE EDIA, Compétences EDI et climatiques en STEM
**L'événement se déroulera en anglais et des sous-titres français seront disponibles