Breakthrough Breakfast 2025

Maryam Havakeshian is a recent PhD graduate, under supervision of Dr. Yvan Labiche, within the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University. Her research focuses on reducing the cost of software verification and validation in real-world industry problems using machine learning techniques.

For the past four years, she has been with Ericsson as an Ericsson Fellow and AI & Data Scientist, where she has streamlined radio software test processes through applied AI and integrated test data analysis to reduce costs in 5G and beyond. She also co-led several applied AI projects at Ericsson Ottawa’s Innovation Garage. These projects include developing image processing techniques—such as using ResNet for classifying visual test results in radio system integration pipelines—and exploring agentic AI applications using large language models, enhanced with ontology and knowledge graphs to reduce hallucination.

Zhina Rezvani is a PhD candidate in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Carleton University, where she began her doctoral studies in Fall 2022. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s in Geotechnical Engineering. Her research focuses on the impacts of climate change on the serviceability of the Hudson Bay Railway under current and future climate scenarios. She investigates how accelerating permafrost thaw leads to differential soil settlement and sinkhole formation in the rail embankment. Through numerical modeling, fieldwork, and desktop studies, she aims to simulate and predict the railway’s future stability.

Women graduate-level students (some, but not all pictured) were hired to help raise the visibility of the program through their networks and establish a positive community experience for all. At the Breakthrough Breakfast event, a number of them will share how the WiE&IT Program has helped the STEM professionals of tomorrow see engineering and IT as viable career paths.