Did you join us for our Women in Manufacturing summit on Tuesday?
The March 22 online event was the second such gathering of major players who examined the ever-growing role of women in the process manufacturing workplace, and it was rich in information and showcased a number of women who are blazing trails and making waves in the process manufacturing sector.
Inspired by the ongoing efforts to dismantle the barriers that prevent or discourage women from entering Canada’s manufacturing industry, influential industry players like Pamela Jeffery, the founder of The Prosperity Project, Jeanine Lassaline–Berglund – President, Automate Canada and Canadian Association of Moldmakers, had in-depth conversations about advancing women into leadership positions.
The summit was pulled together by Annex Business Media’s Manufacturing Group, which included IPP/T and PROCESSWest magazines.
Our lineup of speakers delved deep into the importance of fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce, shared career advice and real-life experiences, and recommended actions companies can take to recruit women and advance them to leadership positions, and much more. It was a day that showcased some of the biggest influencers in the Canadian manufacturing sector, as well as women who have trail-blazed in their careers.
The biggest takeaway for me? The need to step up and continue to promote gender equity, diversity and inclusion in Canadian manufacturing
We’ll be doing this again next year, and it already promises to be bigger and better than ever before.
Looking forward to another event coming up on June 13-15, the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada Convention (PDAC) is returning to an in-person format at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (an online convention June 28-29 will be held later in the month).
The PDAC Convention provides an exciting meeting place for the world’s mineral exploration and mining industry to network, collaborate, learn, have fun and do business, as PDAC Executive Director Lisa McDonald explains, but wanted attendees to have “the complete convention experience… and moving it from March to June is the best opportunity for us to do that.”
Mentioning the PDAC along with our Women in Manufacturing event is noteworthy when you consider Lori Manoukian of McGill University, who was named a 2022 ERM Sustainability Bursary recipient for innovation in environmental performance.
Her thesis centred on an exploratory project with the goal of reducing the negative impacts of phosphate rock mining and processing drew praise from the PDAC, which partnered with ERM – the largest global pure play sustainability consultancy firm – on the bursary award.
The possibility of recovering phosphorus from water with a class of phosphorus-accumulating bacteria to create a phosphorus fertilizer is important work, given the ever-increasing need for fertilizer to maintain crop yields around the world. Creating a phosphorus circular economy will not replace the requirement for phosphate rock mining, but it would create a local phosphorus re-use option. This exciting technology could be used to recover dissolved phosphorus from wastewater treatment plants, and phosphate rock mining and processing wastewaters. The focus of her research so far has been on developing a standardized approach for phosphorus characterization, which would allow for optimization of the biological process and ensure the creation of the highest quality fertilizer.
Definitely a woman who is raising the standard everywhere within the industry, and an inspiration for women throughout Canada who are looking to rise in the ranks in process manufacturing.
