2022-2023 Committee Members

Dr. Amira Abdelrasoul, Chair

Dr. Abdelrasoul is originally from Egypt where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from Alexandria University. She obtained her Master's degree from Kuwait University. Dr. Abdelrasoul received her PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario. She is currently a member of faculty in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Division of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.

Dr. Abdelrasoul has spearheaded the pedagogical research initiatives to enhance the values of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Integrity at Ryerson University in Toronto. Her academic contributions to Women in Engineering, Learning and Teaching Office and the Zone Learning in Toronto, initiated her interest to launch Women In Engineering – USask Chemical and Biological Engineering Chapter.

Dr. Abdelrasoul aims to promote and support the success of female undergraduate and graduate students to become invaluable in future positions. Dr. Abdelrasoul is proud of her research excellence, academic achievements, and her kids. She is enjoying life most when she is having fun with her kids.

Dr. Catherine Niu, Co-chair

Dr. Niu is originally from China where she received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Chemical Engineering. She then went to McGill University in Quebec and received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering. She is currently a member of faculty in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at USask.

Dr. Niu believes that it is essential for women to be represented in the engineering profession, particularly Chemical Engineering. Through the chapter's activities, resources, and recognitions, she seeks to inspire and support female undergraduate and graduate students to succeed in their programs and ultimately in their future careers. Dr. Niu is most proud of the solid education she has acquired in Chemical Engineering and for being a faculty member at USask. She is also a proud wife, and mother to two children. Dr. Niu enjoys reading in her spare time and is an avid fan of spicy food.

Priyanka Tirumareddy, Committee Secretary

Priyanka is originally from Andhra Pradesh, India. She is currently in the second year of her PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Saskatchewan. She stands in support of the equal representation of women in the field of engineering. She believes that the WIE – CBE chapter provides an inclusive environment of support where women from academia and industry come together and find guidance through networking. Through WIE, she hopes to provide mentorship opportunities to female students which help them enhance their careers. She also wishes to provide a space to assemble and promote women within chemical engineering and related fields. She feels honoured to be a research scholar working on alternate energy fuels in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. She is also currently serving as the Vice president - finance of the Engineering Graduate Community Council. 

Fun fact: She is a biryani monster and loves spicy food.

Dorelyn Loachamin Simbana, Undergraduate Student Representative

Dorelyn is from Quito, Ecuador, and is in the fourth year of her chemical engineering degree. She thinks representation of women in the engineering field is key to include new ideas and perspective to the current scenario. Therefore, it is important to have an institution that empowers and highlights the achievements of women as they move along their path throuughout university. She wishes to serve this organization to make it more recognized in the college. As well, as an Undergraduate Student Representative she wishes to share the research stories of her fellow colleagues. Dorelyn, as an international student, is proud of the scholarships, volunteering works she has done so far in the university.

Fun fact: She has five dogs that she loves with her whole heart.

Malihe Afrooz, Graduate Student Representative

Malihe was born and raised in Iran. She is currently in the first year of the Master of Science program in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering. As a result of WIE, she believes that female engineers will be able to support each other when they encounter a variety of challenges both in academia and the workplace, as well as in society. Her goal is to inspire young girls and encourage their interest in engineering, as well as to assist current engineering students in achieving their educational and career goals. With her position, she hopes to provide women in USask Engineering with opportunities for professional development, as well as to speak on behalf of their interests at the university. She is proud of her academic and research accomplishments, which are the result of her hard work and optimism.

Fun fact: she enjoys swimming, walking, and playing with children.

Zahra Teimouri, Media Communication Coordinator

Zahra is originally from Iran. She is a third year PhD student in chemical engineering. She believes that WIE-CBE chapter can provide a platform for engineering students to boost their confidence by presenting and cherishing their achievements. Through the links can be made in this chapter, woman engineers can step forward towards their future goals both in academia and industry. She wishes to organize research competitions in WIE-CBE and gain interest from industrial sponsors to support the achievements of students for their possible future recruitment. She has also joined EGCC team as the chemical engineering representative.

Fun fact: She loves cooking. Her signature dish is her homemade cakes, with the flavour upgraded every week!

Priyanga Gandhi, Events Organizer

Priyanga is originally from Bangalore, India. She is currently in her third year of studying chemical engineering at USask. Priyanga believes WIE-CBE is a unique opportunity for her to be involved within the campus community, especially one that highlights women's achievements in the chemical and biological engineering field. She hopes to work with her peers to create a welcoming space for women in engineering. She is proud of her academic achievements and choosing engineering as a field of study.

Fun fact: Priyanga likes music and enjoys playing guitar in her spare time.

Nazanin Charchi Aghdam, Funding organizer

Originally from Iran, Nazanin is currently working on her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at USask. She wants to empower women to succeed and raise awareness of the life-changing contributions of women in the industry. Nazanin hopes to create a community of empowered women in engineering and foster interest in STEM fields among future generations. Nazanin takes pride in being a mother and her passion for science and engineering.

Fun fact: she is a chocolate monster!

Alivia Mukherjaree, Committee Advisor

Alivia is originally from West Bengal, India. She is a recent PhD USask graduate and she is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Alberta. She believes being associated with WIE-CBE will provide her the platform to contribute towards STEM as well as empowering women in the field of chemical and biological engineering to make this world a better place. Through WIE-CBE, Alivia hopes to create a platform where successful speakers including USask alumnus can share their wonderful experiences with the current undergraduate and graduate students to galvanize them.

Alivia is proud to be a part of the University of Saskatchewan. Also, she takes pride in the small to big accomplishments that she made during her PhD, including getting featured as a Young Innovator in The StarPhoenix and winning 3MT thesis competitions. Alivia is an engineer by profession but an artist by heart.

Fun fact: She is humorous and likes to make friends which she believes helps her to connect with the stalwarts of her field.

2021-2022 Committee Members

Marina Kehrig, Committee Secretary

Marina grew up in Calgary, Alberta, and moved to Saskatoon in 2017 to pursue her engineering degree. She is in the final year of her undergraduate chemical engineering degree.

She strongly believes in supporting women in engineering. In Marina’s opinion, although representation in engineering is improving for women, there are always ways to improve this and inspire other young women to pursue careers in engineering. She is very passionate about supporting women in engineering, as she thinks women in engineering are incredibly valuable in creating meaningful change in the world through diverse backgrounds. Marina wishes for the WIE-CBE chapter to continue to foster a welcoming space for all female engineering students at USask, where they can celebrate their successes and provide meaningful support to continue driving change in the engineering community for current and future female peers.

Marina’s greatest accomplishment is completing an engineering degree while competing as a full-time student-athlete with the U of S track & field team. Although it is very demanding, Marina is proud that she has been able to successfully do both!

Fun fact: Marina is a pole vaulter with the USask Huskies Track & Field team, and she has a twin sister in the College of Agriculture who is on the USask women’s basketball team!

Sarah Harwood-Johnson, Undergraduate Student Representative

Sarah was born and raised in Saskatoon and is currently in the fourth year of Chemical Engineering at USask. She values equality and encouragement of all genders in USask Engineering. Sarah believes that diversity and inclusion are key components to innovation and developing new ideas to solve the world's problems.

Sarah wishes to encourage women in the college to pursue their education and career goals by overcoming boundaries presented to them. Moreover, she hopes to become a mentor for younger students in the college and visit high schools to encourage more young women to pursue engineering careers.

During her internship, Sarah was given the opportunity to manage multiple projects that addressed a major issue related to water consumption in the plant where she worked during her internship. She is proud of the work she completed and the progress she made in addressing the problem by running full-scale plant trials and documenting results in reports.

Fun facts: In her spare time, she loves reading novels because it lets her escape and absorb herself in a story and see the world from different perspectives. She loves to discuss books and would be happy to hear recommendations or chat about shared book interests!

Alivia Mukherjaree, Events Organizer

Alivia is originally from West Bengal, India, and is currently in the fifth year of her PhD studies. She believes being part of WIE-CBE will provide her the opportunity to contribute towards STEM and to empower women in the field of chemical and biological engineering to make our world a better place. Through WIE-CBE, Alivia hopes to create a platform where successful speakers, including USask alumni, can share their wonderful experiences with the current undergraduate and graduate students to galvanize them. She also wishes to organize events about women in STEM to promote sustainability, equality, and diversity.

Alivia is proud to be a part of the USask community. She takes pride in the small and large accomplishments she made as a PhD candidate, which include getting featured in the Young Innovators story series,  winning the USask 3 Minute thesis competition, poster presentations, and oral presentations in several national and international conferences.

Fun facts: Alivia is an engineer by profession but an artist at heart. She is humorous and likes to make friends, which she believes helps her to connect with the stalwarts of her field.

Shiva Aminian, Graduate Student Representative

Shiva is a Turkish girl who was born in Iran, and she is currently in the first year of her Master of Science Program. Shiva is willing to build awareness among engineer women and identify common hurdles that need to be overcome. Shiva thinks ensuring the rights of women across all areas will create sustainable economies that work for all since it is proven that empowering women helps economic growth and development.

Shiva is proud of her soft skills: being able to communicate easily with people and being supportive of her friends.

Fun fact: If she had the chance to earn money by playing mobile games, she would have chosen to be a gamer.

Priyanga Gandhi, Awards Coordinator

Priyanga is originally from Bangalore, India. She is currently in her third year of studying Chemical Engineering at USask. Priyanga believes WIE-CBE is a unique opportunity for her to be involved within the campus community, especially one that highlights women's achievements in the chemical and biological engineering field. She hopes to work with her peers to create a welcoming space for women in engineering. She is proud of her academic achievements and choosing engineering as a field of study.

Fun fact: Priyanga likes music and enjoys playing guitar in her spare time.

Nathalie Baquerizo, Communications Coordinator

Nathalie is originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador. She is completing the third year of her Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering and is currently doing a Co-op internship with the City of Saskatoon. Nathalie believes that women should support each other, and WIE-CBE allows for this to happen by providing students with opportunities that they would not have otherwise. She hopes more young female students who are pursuing a career in engineering become involved with the WIE-CBE chapter so they can network and create a strong bond to support each other.

Marina is proud of research she has completed with Dr. Ajay Dalai about marine fuels and their sustainable alternatives and her participation in the creation of a recently published report.

Fun facts: Marina enjoys playing volleyball and her favorite show is Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

Nazanin Charchi Aghdam, Funding Organizer

Originally from Iran, Nazanin is currently working on her PhD in Chemical Engineering at USask. Previously this group's events organizer, she wants to empower women to succeed and raise awareness of the life-changing contributions of women in the industry. Nazanin hopes to create a community of empowered women in engineering and foster interest in STEM fields among future generations. Nazanin takes pride in being a mother and her passion for science and engineering.  

Fun fact: Nazanin is a chocolate monster!

Kelsey Schmidt, Students' Representative

Kelsey grew up in Regina, SK and has lived in Saskatoon since 2014. She is currently completing her third year towards Bachelor of Engineering in Chemical Engineering. Kelsey believes in WIE-CBE because she understands the value of diversity in creating great teams. She wants to empower her female peers to get more involved, to share their ideas and to make a change for the future.

Kelsey hopes that her involvement with the Usask WIE-CBE Chapter will allow her to help female students in Chemical Engineering have the most fulfilling university experience they can. A fun fact:: Kelsey is very adventurous and even went bungee jumping last summer!

Dylan Scheibelhoffer, Communications Coordinator:

Dylan was born and raised in Saskatoon and is currently in the first year of her Master of Science Program. Dylan believes it is important to have increased visibility of females involved in STEM, both in the industry and in research. She hopes to inspire young females and spark their interest in engineering as well as help current engineering students succeed in their education and future careers. Outside of the lab, Dylan enjoys baking and spending time with her three dogs!

Kate DeVito-Porter, Awards Coordinator

Kate grew up in Saskatoon and is currently in her second year of Chemical Engineering at USask. Kate believes the WIE-CBE Usask Chapter is a great tool for engineering outreach that will allow her to help make engineering more accessible to all. She hopes to spread awareness of the diverse opportunities available to those pursuing a career in engineering. One of Kate's biggest accomplishments is learning to trust herself and to have the confidence to take chances. This has led her to many great opportunities both in her personal and professional life. In her spare time, Kate loves to bake, as she thinks it is very similar to a chemistry experiment – except she gets to eat the finished product!

Jewel Manlapaz, Website Coordinator

Jewel grew up in the Philippines and moved to Canada with her family when she was 15. She is currently in her fourth year of studying Chemical Engineering. Jewel thinks it can be daunting for a young woman to pursue a career in a male-dominated profession, which is why she believes it is crucial to have female representation in engineering. She hopes to give a voice for women in USask Engineering in the university, and to help provide them with opportunities for professional development. A personal accomplishment: Jewel is proud of attaining a 16-month engineering internship and moving to Calgary by herself. A fun fact: she enjoys writing stories.

We'd love for you to become part of Women in Engineering: Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering.

To join or to learn more, please email communications coordinator Nathalie Baquerizo at ncb940@mail.usask.ca 

FEAT (Female Engineers, Architects & Technologists) Lunches

FEAT, based in Saskatoon, provides a relaxed opportunity to network and share with other women over lunch. Visit the FEAT webpage to learn more and sign up for updates.

Biennial CCWESTT Conference

The Canadian Coalition of Women in Engineering, Science, Trades and Technology (CCWESTT) is Canada’s premier national, nonprofit organization of groups, institutions and industries with a mission to expand the attraction, retention, and promotion of women. Check back for news of upcoming conferences.