Liliya Boyadjieva hopes to make breakthroughs in health technology
A young Laval woman with aspirations to advance in the traditionally male-dominated domain of electrical engineering is one of five female university undergraduates from across Canada who’ve been chosen to receive scholarships from the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation.
An ÉTS student
Liliya Boyadjieva, who currently is attending École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Montreal, is a second-year electrical engineering student. She and the others were selected as 2021 CEMF Undergraduate Women in Engineering Scholarship winners, the CEMF says.
They were chosen as the strongest regional ambassadors in their profession, based on their leadership, volunteerism and community involvement. Each award is valued at $5,000 and comes with extensive networking and promotional opportunities for the recipients.
Women in engineering
The scholarships are awarded annually to the most promising women in an accredited undergraduate engineering program in Canada. Since 1990, the CEMF has been promoting engineering as a career choice for young Canadian women through an extensive award and networking program.
While the level of competition is always outstanding, with many strong contenders among the women in engineering, the CEMF says the five women chosen this year stood out as the very best. All of the recipients are actively involved in their communities, volunteer many hours to helping others and are strong role models for the engineering profession.
Inspired by robotics
Liliya, 23, lives in Laval’s Sainte-Dorothée district. She went to high school at École internationale de Laval in Chomedey.
In an interview with the Laval News, she explained how she became interested enough in electrical engineering to pursue a career in the domain. “It was a long road,” she said. “When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to participate in robotics competitions and I participated one year. And that sparked an interest for me in robotics.
“When I went into CEGEP at Collège Bois-de-Boulogne, they had a team in competition there. And it was there that I really just fell in love with creating things with my hands, the process of designing something from scratch. That’s really when I started to love engineering.”
Interested in health technology
Currently studying at ÉTS for a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, she hopes eventually to apply her learning and skills towards the development of health and medical technology, a field where robotics are increasingly being used in areas such as surgery.
She was inspired to pursue electrical engineering as a career after taking part in robotics competitions
“I think there’s a lot of work to be done in that area, and not a lot of people going into it,” she continued, noting that part of her current studies include health technology. While she had previously received awards for her entries in robotics competitions, she said the CEMF scholarship “is the biggest honour I’ve been given so far. It is indeed a great honour for me.”
Worthy award winners
“It is heartening to see so many qualified and capable applicants,” said Julie Lassonde, the CEMF’s president.
“Each of these young women are worthy award winners and we look forward to watching them continue to help connect young Canadians, through their passionate volunteerism, with engineering and its vast possibilities as a viable career choice for other young ladies.
“We’re delighted to see their infectious enthusiasm for engineering, and are thrilled to be supporting them in their future endeavours.”
