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

Michelle Liu (they/them) is a queer, racialized, non-binary and neurodivergent engineer (P.Eng.), soon-to-be lawyer (2024 call), speaker, consultant and researcher based on traditional Algonquin territory. Liu earned their Honours BASc and MASc in civil engineering from the University of Waterloo and has worked in both the public sector and various consulting engineering firms.

Liu’s experience of homophobic, racist and gender-based violence in engineering empowered them to pursue their law degree (JD) and engineering PhD simultaneously at the University of Ottawa. Liu’s engineering PhD research, for which they received both the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship, uses sociolegal frameworks to critically examine the relationship between technological designs and the dominant norms in engineering, such as masculinity and meritocracy. Liu’s short-term goal is to become a law professor and to run a law practice advocating for equity-seeking people who experience discrimination in STEM workplaces. 

Liu’s service work in both the engineering and legal professions include serving as co-chair of the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility Task Force of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, chair of the Waterloo Recent Engineering Alumni Council and member of the Equity Advisory Group of the Law Society of Ontario.

Liu 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. Liu is the recipient of over 20 awards from various institutions for their community service, including being named Engineers Canada’s EDI Leaders in Engineering Workplaces in 2021–2022. [email protected]