Samina Hashmi , BEng / 07

Samina Hashmi was named one of Canada’s most powerful women by the Women’s Executive Network (WXN), in the future leader’s category while a fourth-year electronics student.

As a volunteer with Engineers Without Borders, Samina she spent four months in 2004 in Ghana working with small-scale farmers on a soil fertility project. “That experience not only strengthened my passion in international development, but also made me realize there is so much we can do from Canada, such as buying fair trade products. But I wasn’t sure if engineering was still the best fit for my newly discovered passion. One of my professors made me realize that the skills I’m developing in engineering are transferable to international development-effective problem solving,” she says.

In January 2006, she was the chair of the national conference that was hosted by Carleton and accepted the position of director of chapters with the national organization.

Hashmi, the undergraduate representative on the university’s priorities and planning task force, was also involved as a student in a program to promote equity within Ottawa-Carleton District Schools via anti-racism workshops with students.

She previously won the Young Trailblazer’s Award as part of the Ottawa YWCA Women of Distinction Awards.