Speaker Series - Mental Health Stressors & Supports for Women in Engineering

In this one of a kind virtual event attendees heard from three incredible women in engineering: Melanie Nadeau is a phenomenal leader in the field of engineering and the CEO of COVE, Laura Flick is an Engineer in Training, and an outstanding voice for mental health advocacy, and Rowan Natasha Pratt is an undergraduate engineering student at Dalhousie University and the president of mental health organization Jack.Org. This was a moderated session with the goal of helping break the stigma and having meaningful conversations around the mental health impacts we face as engineers.

The session facilitated an open and honest discussion about the mental health stressors and available supports for women in the engineering industry.

Melanie Nadeau, P.Eng., ICD.D is Chief Executive Officer for the Centre for Ocean Ventures and Entrepreneurship (COVE). An award-winning Canadian business woman and trailblazer, Melanie leads and grows organizations by developing strategies to gain market confidence, drive investments, deliver profits and achieve operational success. She is an expert in the commercialization of emerging technologies, developing business strategies incubating new technology into mature revenue generating engines.

She is a resilient executive leader who builds and fosters strong strategic partnerships with her unique combination of technical, business, and political acumen. An astute decision-maker, Melanie drives operational efficiency and asset optimization through operations, financial management, human resources, and administrative policies and procedures.

In her previous role as Director, Strategic Initiatives for EMERA, a multi-billion dollar energy and services company, she focused on long-term growth strategies and commercial projects impacting the bottom line. Prior to this, she held positions of increasing responsibility overseeing 40+ employees and $500M+ budgets. An experienced Board Director, her appointments have included international marine businesses, national industry associations and an Atlantic Canadian energy board.

An internationally recognized thought-leader in the ocean sector, she offers a global perspective and has been a notable expert for the International Energy Agency, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. She was hand-selected by the delegates of 30+ countries to Chair the IEC industry standards for marine technologies and co-led global conformity assessment for renewable energy. Melanie has earned multiple awards including Canada’s Clean16 Award for her outstanding contribution towards clean capitalism. She has been an invited speaker to numerous events, including TEDGlobal.

Since serving in the Royal Canadian Navy, she continues to have a deep appreciation for Canada’s oceans.

Laura Flick is a Mechanical Engineer in Training who graduated in May 2020. She currently works as a mechanical EIT in buildings and HVAC consulting at CBCL Limited. She is the Student Activities Chair for the ASHRAE Halifax Chapter, where she is responsible for K-12 and post secondary student engagement and exposure to the HVAC industry. As an engineering student in her third year, she recognized the significant lack of mental health related resources for students on Sexton campus. Tackling this problem head on, Laura founded Jack.orgDalEng, a mental health focused society with the goal of making Sexton campus a safer environment for students experiencing mental distress. Among her accomplishments, including working with the Dalhousie Health team to increase recourses on Sexton campus and educate students on how to access these resources, she explains that her most significant accomplishment in this role was her ability to understand her audience; constructing a student survey, analyzing the results and utilizing a report and presentation to communicate to the engineering faculty the urgency of this issue. Her advocacy work was a catapult that significantly improved life at Sexton campus, and inspired the current partnership between the Dalhousie Engineering Faculty and the Crawley group, an external consultant group specializing in mental health, to assess the current state of mental health and mental health resources for engineering students at Dalhousie, and implement a new mental health framework informed by the National Standard for Health and Well-Being for Post-Secondary Students from the Mental Health Commission of Canada. She continues to be a mental health champion, joining the IDEAS (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Advice and and Support) committee at CBCL, providing employees with opportunities to get active, educational pieces on mental health and wellness, and even an introduction to meditation session.

Rowan Natasha Pratt (they/she) is a neurodivergent, queer currently in her fourth year of university working towards their Bachelor of Industrial Engineering and Certificate of Indigenous Studies at Dalhousie University.

Rowan uses their artistic approach combined with engineering and advocacy to challenge their peers’ unconscious biases. They strive to break the cycles that allow minority students to fall through the cracks at the local and national levels.

Rowan compliments her studies through leadership positions, currently serving as Social Issues Commissioner for the Canadian Federation of Engineering Students (CFES), Chair for the Conference on Diversity in Engineering 2021, and President of Jack.orgDalEng.

Sapna Natarajan (she/her) is in her second year of studies in the Dalhousie Engineering program and will be pursuing a degree in Electrical Engineering. Sapna is from Halifax, Nova Scotia.

In pursuit of being involved in the community, Sapna is the Secretary of the Social Committee and the Diploma of Engineering Society.

Additionally, Sapna is a volunteer with an air cadet squadron and works part time at the Shannex Retirement Living. Sapna enjoys gliding and kayaking in her spare time.