Sabrina Hiefer has become the first Acadia student to win an Undergraduate Women in Engineering Scholarship from CEMF, the Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation. 

Across Canada, one female engineering undergraduate is selected in each of five regions – Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies, and British Columbia – as the strongest ambassador for the profession based on her leadership, volunteerism and community involvement. This year’s $5,000 scholarship included an all-expenses-paid trip to Yellowknife in June for the Engineers Canada annual general meeting and award presentations. CEMF fundraised to pay recipients’ travel expenses, and Hiefer’s sponsors were Engineers Nova Scotia and the Halifax office of CBCL Ltd.

For someone who had never even sought employment until after high school, Hiefer’s resumé is impressive. She is co-founder and co-chair of the Atlantic Youth Environmental Council, coordinator of the Acadia Environment and Sustainability Office, and vice-president executive of the Acadia Engineering Society.

Welcoming atmosphere

Currently a second-year student, Hiefer almost didn’t come to Acadia. She lives in the Windsor Forks area and Acadia was her local university. “I guess it’s a normal high school thing,” she says. “You just assume you’re going to go away.”  

After high school, she took a year off to gain work experience and decide what she wanted to study. A conversation with Dr. Andrew Mitchell, dean of Acadia’s Ivan Curry School of Engineering, persuaded her to go into engineering and apply to Acadia.

Although she had applied also to Dalhousie University, what sealed the deal were Acadia’s welcoming atmosphere and generous scholarship support. “The scholarship programs at Acadia are absolutely phenomenal,” she says.

Hiefer’s engineering classmates are a friendly, competitive group. “The majority of us are very, very determined, and it’s really interesting to have us all in there because we motivate one another,” she says.

For the CEMF award, Hiefer’s application included a presentation on her perspective as a woman in engineering. As an award recipient, she will visit high schools to raise awareness of engineering and its opportunities for female students.

Volunteering and leadership

In her first year at Acadia, Hiefer approached Jodie Noiles, sustainability coordinator for the Arthur Irving Academy for the Environment.

“Sabrina came to me looking for opportunities to get involved in campus environmental activities,” Noiles says. “I was immediately impressed with her level of professionalism, and she was very keen. She got involved right away with the Acadia Environmental Sustainability Office (AESO).”

The AESO provides environmental outreach and education to Acadia students and the community. Early on, the group identified what they saw as a “disconnect” among regional universities and colleges at the student level. “We wanted to help bridge that gap, and to do it with an environmental basis,” she says.

Noiles put Hiefer in touch with Cate May Burton of King’s College in Halifax; together the two young women co-founded the Atlantic Youth Environmental Council. An inaugural conference, which Hiefer is chairing, is scheduled for October. The keynote speaker will be Elizabeth May, leader of Canada’s Green Party.

Noiles, who was one of Hiefer’s referees for the CEMF scholarship, says Hiefer embodies Acadia values. “Excellence in academic performance – she has a very strong GPA – while being very engaged in the campus and local community. And she also has a very strong commitment to the protection and sustainability of the environment,” Noiles adds. “Those three things are very important values here at the institution. She’s an excellent representative of Acadia and for Acadia students.”

Although many people at Acadia, including Noiles, have influenced Hiefer, her primary mentor is closer to home. Her mother, Christine, has been a “huge mentor,” she says. “She instilled in me at a young age to always do my best.”

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