Redefining Nuclear Engineering: A Conversation with Meryam Alkhalaf

Published: 7 September 2024

If you ever researched different careers especially those on the more technical side, chances are, you have heard the word Engineering being thrown around quite a lot. But have you ever wondered what the sector was truly like outside of the common notion of “it’s just building things”?

Engineering uses science and maths to design systems and structures, balancing creativity with practical constraints like safety and budget. Fields under engineering include chemical, software, and biomedical engineering, and each field makes crucial contributions to our society!

Using applied science and mathematics, engineers solve technical problems that permit the design and building of systems and infrastructures are essential in shaping our communities and economics. In our latest pursuits at OK Youth! we interviewed Meryam Alkhalaf, a recent nuclear engineering graduate and project coordinator at Aecon Group. We invited a group of middle school girls to discuss the various aspects and nuances behind her work and ask her their questions about her career.

Before we discuss Meryam’s interview, let’s address some statistics of women in engineering.

Globally, women constitute 14% of the engineering workforce. In Canada, female engineers made up 20% of all newly licensed engineers in 2022 — an increase from 19.8% the prior year, a trend that mirrors the fluctuations of the past decade. Engineers Canada, a not-for-profit that supports and represents Canada’s engineering regulators, aims to increase the proportion of newly licensed female engineers by 30% by the year 2030. Women can bring diverse perspectives and strengths into driving innovation, creativity, and success in engineering fields, and we definitely need all hands on deck to encourage theır participation!

When we look at higher education statistics, we see that only 23% of all students enrolled in undergraduate engineering programs were female, which is a 6% increase from a decade before. Biosystem engineering (53%) was the most women-concentrated program, followed by chemical engineering (42%), and geological engineering (37%). This shows that the gender disparity begins in university years, extending all the way to the labour market. There is so much more work to be done to inspire more women to pursue engineering from the outset, which is what we’re aiming to do with our STEM Voices of Tomorrow project at OK Youth!

As an engineer in training, Meryam describes her work and life generally being well-balanced. Even if it means waking up at 5 am every single day, she is happy! Being a person working in a nuclear plant, her job undoubtedly puts great emphasis on workplace safety. Outside of her desk job, she enjoys going into the plant the most, and contrary to many stereotypes, her work is not physically demanding where they are expected to build machinery.

Even the most successful careers come with their challenges and difficulties. Meryam recalls instances where she faced micro-aggression by her classmates for being a woman, such as remarks that she was allegedly accepted into these positions solely because companies hire for diversity, disregarding her hard work and accomplishments. Despite these challenges, Meryam says that her nuclear engineering degree was worth it, but that it took a great deal of work to get where she is now. During her studies, she even wanted to switch to mechanical engineering due to intense coursework, but with the support of her family and professors, she persevered and not only completed the course but also became one of 28 students, one of only 4 women, and the sole hijabi.

For their future aspirations, Meryam recommends middle schoolers and youth in general to work and improve their skills in mathematics, as it is an integral part of engineering. She suggests that students should also get into volunteering and activities that improve their problem-solving and public speaking skills. As for her personal goals? Meryam is set on becoming project manager and we are rooting for her all the way!!

All in all, our interview session with Meryam and our participating middle school girls was undoubtedly an exciting and informative experience! The students made great efforts to come up with broad questions to make sure they understood everything about Meryam’s incredible passion, resilience, and work ethic. They learned about the struggles that come with pursuing her field, but were also inspired to stay committed to their dreams and spread awareness. Nevertheless, their efforts paid off! Not only did they learn a lot, but also had fun spending time with such an intelligent and inspiring role model!