Our History
Mission
The Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation is committed to creating a world where engineering meets the needs and challenges of society by engaging the skills and talents of both women and men alike. To that end, we are dedicated to attracting women to the engineering profession so they may fully contribute to the development of our society. In so doing, they also honour the memory of the 14 women from L’ École Polytechnique whose contributions to Canada ended on December 6, 1989.
History
The Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation was formed and incorporated in 1990 following the events in Montreal at École Polytechnique that resulted in the death of 14 young women ending their contributions to Canadian society. The initiative to establish CEMF was taken by Claudette MacKay-Lassonde, P.Eng., then President of the Professional Engineers of Ontario, together with a number of other concerned female engineers. Go here for more information about this leader who was instrumental in the founding of CEMF.
The Foundation was launched under the stewardship of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers who administered it until 1998 when a part-time Executive Director was hired. Since 2002, CEMF has been managed by Megram Consulting Services, who oversees the financials, meetings, awards, scholarship management and the day-to-day business of the Foundation.
CEMF is led by a group of prominent members of Canada’s engineering and business communities and is funded entirely through donations from individual engineers, corporations, engineering faculties and engineering societies. Edward Jones manages the financial portfolio which provides interest income used to support engineering scholarships, awards and activities.
Each year the Foundation grants scholarships to outstanding women in engineering students at the undergraduate and graduate levels of study. An increasing number of these scholarships are funded by Canadian corporations who support our goals and objectives.
CEMF is a Registered Canadian Charitable Foundation.