Jasmine McDermott, 2019 AWSN Scholarship Recipient

Jasmine is currently studying Third Year Mechanical Engineering at the University of Calgary. She was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and has lived in Calgary since the age of six. Her Dad is German and Cree (Sawridge First Nation), and her mom is Polish and Ukrainian. Jasmine grew up loving math and science, and developed an interest in engineering after taking pre- engineering classes in high school. She has developed her leadership skills through her involvement with the Engineering Students’ Society, where she began as a First Year Representative, was elected Vice President Academic, and is currently serving as Diversity Commissioner. Jasmine is currently founding an Indigenous STEM student club, with the goal of using engineering to improve quality of life in Indigenous communities and engaging Indigenous youth in STEM. She has also attended conferences across Canada, including the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students’ (CFES) 2018 Congress, the 2018 CFES Conference on Diversity in Engineering, the 2018 Assembly of First Nations National Water Symposium, .caISES’ 2019 Tewatsentóntho, and the 2019 IndigeSTEAM Retreat. Jasmine is currently preparing to Co-Chair the 2020 CFES Conference on Diversity in Engineering at the University of Calgary. As a member of the Dean’s Schulich Strategic Plan Committee, Jasmine was a voice for inclusion in STEM, and is currently a member of the Implementation Committee for the new Strategic Plan. She is also serving her second term on the Schulich Diversity and Inclusivity Advisory Committee (DIAC), and is involved with clubs such as WISE and the Indigenous Student Council.