2016 Award Recipients
Jolene Mahody
Business Award
Jolene Mahody, EVP and CFO for Chorus Aviation is a Chartered Accountant and has received her Fellow of Chartered Accountant designation, which is awarded for outstanding career and community achievements. She joined Air Nova in 1992 and has had an impressive and varied career track that has seen her take on increasingly senior roles. Jolene played a key role in the merger of four regional airlines into what eventually became Jazz Aviation LP, a successful IPO in 2006 and the evolution of Chorus.
Brigadier General Lise Bourgon
Flight Ops/Maintenance Award
Brigadier General Lise Bourgon is a highly respected maritime helicopter pilot with over 2200 hours flying the Sea King. She has been a pioneer of gender integration and her career includes numerous milestones: she was the first female LtCol pilot commanding officer of an operational squadron, first female colonel wing commander, and the first female commander of joint task force- Iraq in Kuwait commanding over 600 CAF personnel. She has twice been the Canadian representative for the Women in NATO Working Group. She has worked on issues affecting women in the CAF and wrote her staff college thesis on retention and work-life balance. She has multiple degrees, the latest a Master of Public Administration.
Dr. Sylvie Beland
Government Award
Dr. Sylvie Béland, Internationally recognized aerospace and space scientist whose work has contributed to new technologies to the Canadarm2 and the International Space Station. She is the first woman aerospace R&D director at the National Research Council in charge of the largest laboratory in the country with a staff of 100. She has held a number of senior positions at the Canadian Space Agency and served a five-year term as Counselor on Space and Commercial Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Paris. She also acted as a Permanent Delegate of Canada to the European Space Agency. She is now the NRC co-champion on the National Women In Science and Technology Committee. She has written many papers and a book on high performance resins and their composites, and has received many awards including the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee.
Dr. Catherine Mavriplis
Education Award
Dr. Catherine Mavriplis, completed a Masters and a PhD in Aeronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology before pursuing postdoctoral studies in computational mathematics and aerospace engineering at Princeton. She is a licenced professional engineer in the state of Virginia and Ontario. She has been a member of the faculty at the University of Ottawa since 2008. In 2011, she was selected as the NSERC/Pratt and Whitney Canada Chair for Women in Science and Engineering, the first woman from aviation and aerospace to be selected as one of the national champions for women in science and aerospace and continues to work as an advocate for advancing women in aerospace.
Rosella Bjornson
Pioneer Award
Rosella Bjornson was the foremost first officer on a jet and is a trailblazer for women in aviation. She received her pilot's licence at 17 and earned her commercial and instructor rating while attending the University of Calgary. She became the first female first officer when she was hired by Transair in 1973, and the first jet qualified female airline pilot in North America. She was also the first woman member of the Canadian Airlines Pilots Association. She was grounded in 1979 due to her first pregnancy, and worked with Transport Canada after her second pregnancy in 1984 to help create new policy for this vital issue. Due to her efforts, female pilots were able to fly for the first 6 months during pregnancy, a major milestone for women in aviation. In 1990 she became the first female captain with a major airline in Canada (Canadian). She was inducted into Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame in 1997
Holly Johnson
Rising Star
Holly Johnson has a Bachelor of Applied Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Toronto. She joined MDA as a student and has worked on the Canadarm program including performing the pre-mission simulation of the Canadarm robotic operations with the International Space Station. She was the lead systems engineer on the neurosurgical medical robotic (neuroarm2) transferring the technology of space to provide hands-free surgical imaging. She is also a Private Pilot.
Navreet Saini
Rising Star
Navreet Saini graduated from Ryerson University’s aerospace engineering program in 2012 while completing three consecutive internships with Bombardier Aerospace. Upon graduation she accepted an avionics engineering position with Bell Helicopter and has since transferred to the flight test and experimental department. During her undergrad she worked on the ramp at the Brampton Flight Center where she also obtained her private pilot’s licence and night rating. She aspires to work in the human factors and aviation safety sector.
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