Kimberly Watada (ChemE Year 3) is the recipient of the 2020 Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation (CEMF) Rona Hatt Chemical Engineering Award.
Each year, CEMF selects several women to act as Ambassadors for the engineering profession and to serve as role models for other young women. Ambassadors are selected based on their enthusiasm for engineering, involvement in volunteer activities, leadership, communication and interpersonal skills.
Watada received the Rona Hatt Chemical Engineering Award for her outstanding leadership and community involvement in the University and wider engineering community. Some of Watada’s involvement includes mentoring first-year engineering students as a Guided Engineering Academic Review Session (GEARS) leader, conducting a summer research project with Professor Gisele Azimi (ChemE, MSE), playing on the Engineering field hockey team, participating as an analyst for the University of Toronto Engineering Finance Association (UTEFA) and offering mentorship through the chemical engineering mentorship program.
As a CEMF Ambassador, Watada hopes to inspire prospective woman students to pursue an engineering degree. Most recently, she created a video lecture for secondary schools explaining the merits of an engineering degree and showcases how she thrives as an engineering student.
“This award gives me the opportunity to reach out to other engineering students, especially women, and empower them through sharing my experiences, academic knowledge and offering support and positivity,” says Watada. “If the engineering profession is to continue to grow, both men and women are needed to grow and support it to the fullest.”
The Rona Hatt Chemical Engineering Award is sponsored in memory of its namesake who is the first known woman Canadian chemical engineer.