A Mentorship Night is for women students to participate in a roundtable mentorship opportunity with working professionals form leading engineering and IT companies. The focus of this event is how to communicate effectively through email and in-person with other students in your class, professors and hiring professionals. You will learn how to handle difficult conversations while continuing to present yourself in a professional setting.
Who can attend the event?
We encourage women from all backgrounds and identities to join this Mentorship Night, especially women students in a Carleton University Bachelor, Master’s or Doctoral program, of: engineering, IT, applied science, computer science, mathematics, or physics. We are committed to creating spaces that are welcoming and supportive to women of all backgrounds, intersecting identities, and experiences – including racialized women, women with disabilities, Indigenous women, etc.
Mentors
Lisa is an Ottawa native, but studied in Halifax at Dalhousie
University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology
with a minor in Psychology. Later, Lisa obtained a Bachelor of
Engineering (Mechanical) from the Technical University of
Nova Scotia in 1993.
Lisa started working at Gastops shortly after graduation and
have worked across various product lines throughout her
entire career. Recently, Lisa transitioned to the Machinery
Analysis group from Product Development Test Engineering,
also serving as a Senior Control Systems Engineer. She played a
key role in supporting propulsion machinery software for
Halifax Class Frigates.
Dekel is a Director of Consulting Services at CGI in Ottawa. Dekel leads a team of IT professional and manages large government accounts in the Defense domain. Dekel joined CGI 16 years ago as a Senior Project Manager and in 2014 she became a director and account manager. Dekel has great communication skills and much experience in dealing with difficult situations. Dekel came to Canada 23 years ago and has 4 boys including 16 year twins. She served in the army and earned her B.Com degree from the University of Natal, South Africa.
Melissa Trezise has been with Ciena for nine years and is a Senior Manager leading the Waveserver Integrated Test Experience team. She graduated from Queen’s University in 2013 with a Master of Science after completing a Bachelor of Computing in 2011. She started with Ciena as a new graduate hire and spent several years as a developer working on the 6500 platform before transitioning to the Waveserver product. She is the co-lead for Women at Ciena and is passionate about increasing diversity, her cat Jellybean, and Disney. Her personal motto is ‘Embrace your Weird’.
Tayo Sodeinde started with Nortel/Ciena 18 years ago as an Intern in the wireless division. Upon completion of her computer science degree from University of Ottawa, she got hired as a new grad in the Metro Ethernet Network division of Nortel. A lifelong learner, she has worked in various roles within the R&D and Supply Chain Operations divisions of the organization as a Software Tool Developer, Product Engineer, Project Manager, Software Integration Prime and currently as a DevOps Engineer.
Daniela Madariaga works at Lockheed Martin Canada as an Associate Software Engineer. She currently work as a member of the Combat Systems Integration In-Service Support (CSI ISS) team, where they help maintain, support, and manage the services that keep the Canadian Patrol Frigates of the Halifax Class operating at a high level of performance. Daniela attended Saint Mary’s University before starting her job at Lockheed Martin Canada, and she completed my Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering at Dalhousie University, where she also earned a Certificate in Biomedical Engineering. Daniela’s current goal is to earn her P. Eng designation and qualify as a professional engineer. In her spare time, Daniela truly enjoy spending time with friends and participating in activities like board games, escape rooms, and camping.
Joy Ardanaz joined CGI in early 2023 after nearly two decades in the healthcare and hospital sector. Her extensive history of clinical management, healthcare information technology development, and biomedical technology implementation have given her a wealth of knowledge about digital health transformation. Her education in healthcare information and documentation combined with a Masters of Business Administration and Masters of Project Management have helped her to design and implement meaningful digital solutions for healthcare clients. Most recently, Ms. Ardanaz has gained experience in the emerging field of Space Health, designing novel digital solutions for astronauts on the upcoming lunar missions.
Stephanie graduated from Carleton University with a degree in Aerospace Engineering and has worked across different industries ranging from manufacturing to telecommunications. She is currently responsible for the modelling and functional arrangement of combat systems for a complex naval program. She plans, organizes, and leads the work by managing a team of engineers and facilitates discussions with internal and external stakeholders. In her free time, she enjoys exercising, playing board games or video games with friends, and spending time with her 3-year-old son.
Melissa has spent the entirety of her 24-year construction career working for PCL
on projects across Canada. In her current role as the manager, special projects
she oversees the operations of the SP team which handles projects generally
valued at under $50M. Her experience includes both public and private projects,
including Ottawa’s ongoing Energey Services Acquisition Projects (ESAP), BC Place
Revitalization in Vancouver, and the Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre.
Micaela just recently celebrated her 10-year anniversary with PCL. During her
decade with out team, Micaela has worked on a wide variety of projects, including
the uOttawa Heart Institute and Centre Block Rehabilitation projects before she
transferred to PCL’s Australian Operations team where she supported projects ‘Down
Under’ for a few years before returning to Ottawa. Micaela started her PCL career
with several terms as a co-op student, where she got to experience the industry as a
Document Control Assistant and Field Engineer before accepting a full-time role as a Project Coordinator.
Stephanie leads the Employee Engagement HR function at Solace as well as is the DEI Committee Chair, Student Program Manager, and Social Committee Lead. She is passionate about people, about diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, psychological safety in the workplace and students. When Stephanie isn’t working, you can find her reading, hanging out with her pets, or headed to the movies with her husband.
