Riya Dutta

Riya Dutta is an outstanding champion for women in engineering and computer science — and a source of inspiration for countless young women. A two-time graduate of Concordia’s Gina Cody School, she recently earned her master’s in software engineering and now works at the university’s Volt-Age research program as equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) and research project officer.

As an undergraduate, she served as vice-president and later president of the Women in Engineering (WIE) student society. Among many networking events, workshops and outreach events she led to encourage young women to pursue careers in STEM.

Dutta’s background in software engineering and passion for EDI led her to pursue an interdisciplinary master's, bringing humanities and social studies aspects of EDI into STEM. Her thesis aimed to create guidelines for software researchers and developers to ensure their products are inclusive. She presented her research and won the 2023 3-Minute Thesis competition (3MT) at Concordia and the National 3MT competition. She was a finalist in the North American 3MT Showcase where 12 participants were chosen from over 900 universities across Canada, the US and Mexico.

She has given numerous talks, conference papers and media interviews on the topic of women in engineering. In 2019, for the 30th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre, she wrote an inspiring article for CBC about her experience as a woman in engineering. 

Dutta’s leadership in and unwavering commitment to EDI earned her the Concordia University Alumni Association's Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Award in 2024. She received the Gina Cody School EDI Award in 2023.