Ryerson Alumni - 2018 Summer - 32

PROFILES

Ryerson University Magazine / Summer 2018

High-speed career
Gender imbalance doesn't faze aerospace
engineering alumna

WHEN NAVREET SAINI walked into her first department meeting at
Bell Helicopter, it was a familiar scene. Sitting around the boardroom
table were her new co-workers-every last one, a man.
Later that day, she updated her Facebook status: "Department
staff meeting. 28 men + me. Pressure is on."
"It was scary, but I reminded myself that I got picked for a reason,"
recalls Saini. Her experience was reflective of an industry where less
than 12 per cent of aerospace engineering graduates are women.
Saini was only seven when she set her sights on flying planes, but
it was her dad that led her in the direction of aerospace engineering. The father of six girls, he recognized early on that Saini-his
right-hand daughter for everything from house renovations to car
repairs-was meant to work in an applied field.
Saini, on the other hand, wasn't so sure. "The first time he mentioned it, I thought, "No, no, no,'" she says. "I was nervous. He saw
something in me that I didn't."
Trusting his judgment, she spent the next four years commuting
three hours daily to school from Rexdale. During summers, she
worked at Bombardier Aerospace through Ryerson's Institute for
Aerospace Design and Innovation (RIADI) co-op program. Any spare
time was dedicated to earning her private pilot's licence.
Her hard work paid off-when Saini graduated in 2012, she made
the dean's list and shortly afterwards, received a LinkedIn message
from Bell Helicopter asking her to come in for an interview.
Although her first meeting was intimidating, she soon discovered
that her gender would have little bearing on her career.
"I didn't feel any discrimination or limitations. I was there to do a
job. The projects that I got put on were really incredible," says Saini.
Now part of the avionics team at PAL Aerospace Engineering, Saini,
29, is taking a page from her father's book. As a member of Women
in Aviation International, she encourages girls to pursue careers in
aviation and in 2016, she received the Northern
→
Lights Aero Foundation Rising Star Award for
Navreet Saini
outstanding women in aviation.
encourages girls
Saini believes that women will always have
to pursue careers
a place at the table-but it's what they do once in aviation. In 2016
she received the
there that matters.
Northern Lights
"There's a lot of opportunity to make your own
Aero Foundation
path. If you have ideas, speak up," she says. "And
Rising Star Award
if the chair's not there, bring your own chair."
for outstanding
-Jessica Wynne Lockhart, Journalism '08

women in aviation.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ALIA YOUSSEF, IMAGE ARTS '17

Fitz-Gerald, Journalism '00

N AVREE T S A INI

RYERSON GRAD ANSWERS
1. Isadore Sharp, Architectural Technology '52, founder of the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts / 2. Dave Devall, RTA '58, former CFTO-TV weather personality
3. Dale Goldhawk, Journalism '67, had a decade-long television career with Goldhawk Fights Back, a consumer-advocate show on CTV / 4. Michael Landsberg, RTA '82,
sports broadcaster and host of TSN's Off The Record / 5. Jessica Holmes, RTA '98, comedian/actress best known for Royal Canadian Air Farce

into one of only two available windows on
his schedule that week.
"When I'm older, I can slow down," he said
with a smile. "But right now, I have lots of
energy, lots of time, and I just want to do as
much as I can."
Olawoye, Social Work '07, is lead executive, Venture Talent Development at MaRS,
heading a team of more than a dozen to
guide talent, pre-graduation to senior leaders looking for jobs in technology. The team
aims to teach those job seekers the skills-
and the mindset-needed to thrive in the
new economy.
That is his day job.
He founded the Black Professionals In
Technology Network late last year. There
are plans to grow that network to more than
1,000 members by the spring, helping to
foster connections and access points for
young professionals in what Olawoye calls
the "tech ecosystem."
He sits on the Greater Toronto Area Community Board at Telus, the charity arm of
the telecommunication company. He is also
a board member with the Toronto Community Benefits Network, which works to
ensure a portion of infrastructure spending
goes toward hiring members of the communities where the projects are based.
Olawoye has his eyes on another job title:
Toronto city councillor.
He finished 1,343 votes behind Ward 12
incumbent Frank Di Giorgio four years ago,
and he is looking to win the rematch this
year. There are 40 members on his campaign team now, with plans for between
50 and 100 going door-to-door in the six
months leading up to the big day in October.
Why do all this?
"It matters," he said. "I can't just get complacent and comfortable. I became a social
worker because my friends were dying,
in Jamestown. I can't, now, 'make it,' and
then just focus on my home. It's not good
enough. Our city can do something special
in the world, and I feel like I have the skills,
the lived experience, the natural gifts that
God has given me, to be able to help."-Sean

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