Faces of WISEST: Megan Finstad

Megan’s first exposure to WISEST was as a participant in the CHOICES Conference as a grade 6 student.  A few years later in 2005, she participated in the Summer Research Program and spent the summer in a chemical engineering lab.  After high school, Megan pursued a Chemical Engineering degree at the University of Alberta and is now a Professional Engineer in Alberta. She began her career in 2011 at Dow Canada. Since then she has worked in process automation, projects engineering and production engineering at Dow’s hydrocarbon plant in Fort Saskatchewan as well as travelling to the Gulf Coast on assignment.  

Her participation in WISEST gave Megan role models and exposure to technical fields far above what the typical high school student would experience. This greatly influenced her passion for a technical career and commitment to inclusion and diversity.  

She has thoroughly enjoyed volunteering with WISEST since 2013 and giving back to the program which influenced her career path. Additionally, her participation in WISEST has influenced her to participate in Dow’s internal programs promoting diversity and inclusion. 

Megan’s next challenge will be navigating her return from maternity leave and she looks forward to sharing her thoughts and experiences on work-life balance as a working mom with future generations of WISEST students.