Mona —

Mona is a glass ceiling breaker and pioneer in her field of engineering. She is a retired professional engineer, who up until her retirement, was the president and COO of InCoreTec Inc., a company she founded in 1988. When I asked her what her proudest achievements are she told me raising her two successful sons and “[she] was the first woman to complete a Masters degree in ocean engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador. During that work, I developed the first mathematical model in North America to predict iceberg movement. In 1980, I became the first woman to ever work as an engineer for Lavalin-Fenco Newfoundland. In 1988, I became the first woman engineer in Newfoundland to launch her own engineering company.” That same year, from her experiences being a woman in the field, Mona also founded WISE NL (Women in Science and Engineering). WISE is a non profit community organization that has worked to increase the participation of women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers in the province over the past 30 years. In part because of this, Memorial University now leads the country in female engineering students at 27% enrolment. She notes that it’s summer employment program which begin in 1990 “has seen over 1000 young women in Grade 11 throughout NL experience careers in science and engineering through hands-on paid summer jobs at Memorial and in the private sector. Many have gone on to become successful professionals themselves and now mentor the next generation of younger women.” All that is mentioned above hardly scratches the surface of Mona’s lists of accolades, accomplishments, and contributions. When I asked her what she likes to do for fun she told me she loves to garden, cook, do yoga, and peruse the aisles of Costco. Mona’s own favourite quality is her love of helping others. In 2019, this very quality won her a community service award offered by the Professional Engineers and Geoscientists Newfoundland & Labrador (PEGNL).

Q&A Feature:

What is a fun fact about you that you haven’t told me yet?

“I won a speed walking contest.”

What is most important to you and why?

“Family… [they] last with you from the beginning of your life, through retirement, to future generations.”