Engineering Design: Towards Inclusion & Belonging for ALL

Allie Kennington, BASc, EIT

Allie Kennington (they/them) is an environmental engineer-in-training at AtkinsRéalis (formerly SNC-Lavalin) in Ottawa. They specialize in hydrogeology, site assessment and remediation, and environmental regulation and compliance. Allie earned their BASc in Geological Engineering from the University of Waterloo and is currently pursuing a Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering at the same institution. Their research focuses on enhancing the inclusivity of diverse and marginalized users through an empathetic engineering design process.

Allie is an avid advocate for broadening the scope of inclusivity in engineering. Their advocacy aims to extend diversity measures in the profession beyond the reductive gender binary to encompass transgender and gender nonconforming practitioners.

Michelle Liu, P.Eng, JD, MASc, LEED-GA

Michelle Liu (they/them) is a queer, racialized, and non-binary engineer, speaker, advocate/activist, soon-to-be lawyer, researcher, and settler on traditional Algonquin territories. Michelle earned their Honours BASc and MASc in civil engineering from the University of Waterloo, after which they worked in construction and design for various national and multi-national consulting engineering firms. Michelle went on to pursue their law degree (JD’ 23) and engineering PhD simultaneously at the University of Ottawa

Michelle gives back to their communities by serving as a Councillor of Professional Engineers Ontario, Co-Chair of the EDIA Task Force of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Chair of the Waterloo Recent Engineering Alumni Council, and mentor with the Ontario Network for Women in Engineering. Michelle co-created and co-funds the Liu-Kennington Award for the 2SLGBTQ+ Engineering Community, Canada’s first university-level scholarship for 2SLGBTQ+ engineering students. Engineers Canada named Michelle one of thirteen EDI Leaders in Engineering Workplaces in 2021-2022.