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

Michelle Liu (she/her) is a Queer, racialized and woman-identifying professional engineer. Liu earned her BASc and MASc in civil engineering from the University of Waterloo. After working in construction and design for various national and multi-national consulting engineering firms, Liu went on to pursue her law degree (JD) and PhD in civil engineering simultaneously at the University of Ottawa. Liu’s engineering PhD focuses on using equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) frameworks to critically examine engineering professional norms and technical standards. Her work takes place between the faculty of engineering and the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the faculty of law. In all her academic endeavours, Liu prioritizes mentoring and supporting equity-seeking students as well as students interested in interdisciplinary research. Engineers Canada named Liu one of 13 EDI Leaders in Engineering Workplaces in 2021–2022. Liu’s promotion of EDI in both the engineering and legal professions includes serving as a mentor with the Ontario Network for Women in Engineering, chair of the Waterloo Recent Engineering Alumni Council and as a member of the Equity Advisory Group of the Law Society of Ontario. Liu also co-created and co-funds the Liu-Kennington Award for the 2SLGBTQ+ Engineering Community, the first university-level scholarship for 2SLGBTQ+ engineering students in Canada. For her leadership and groundbreaking research, Liu became the only applicant in the 2021–2022 application cycle to receive both the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship and the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship (in the NSERC stream), two of the most prestigious PhD scholarships in Canada. Liu is likely the first openly 2SLGBTQ-identifying councillor at PEO. Liu lives in Ottawa and enjoys reading, hiking, canoeing and backcountry camping.