École Polytechnique awards first-ever Order of the White Rose

Tara Gholami grew up being encouraged to try new things and launch herself into any project, something she says was not a given in Iran.

The 23-year-old engineering student is the first recipient of the Order of the White Rose – a $30,000 scholarship established by the École Polytechnique last year, to be awarded to a female graduate student of engineering enrolled at the institution of her choice.

Gholami was born in Iran and came to Canada when she was 11. She credits her parents with giving her the love of engineering.

"My dad, for example, would always include me in any project around the house that he wanted to do," she said.

"I never grew up thinking that there was a difference between women and men in the engineering profession. My mom herself was an engineer. She was my role model."

Gholami is hoping to join the surgical robotics industry.

Respond to tragedy with kindness

Gholami has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Calgary and is now pursuing a graduate degree at Stanford University.

"The thing that I think is the most important about the scholarship is that it showcases that we, humans, are able to take a tragedy and respond to it with kindness and generosity," Gholami told CBC Montreal's Homerun.

Gholami was in Montreal Wednesday to receive the scholarship. She said meeting the Order's "godmother," Nathalie Provost, who was injured in the 1989 shooting, was inspirational.

"It was such an honour to be in the presence of such a strong woman," said Gholami.