Canadian scientist to tour UK as the first Canada-UK women in science, engineering and technology

Ottawa, ON – March 8, 2004 – Dr Elizabeth Cannon, Professor and NSERC Steacie fellow in the department of geomatics engineering at the University of Calgary, was chosen as the inaugural Canadian lecturer of the Canada-UK women in science, engineering and technology (wiset) exchange lecturership.

Dr Cannon is currently lecturing in Nottingham and London, England as the guest of the Royal Society of London in collaboration with the Royal Society of Canada. The Canada-UK WISET Exchange Lecturership is a joint program of the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society London which aims to raise the international profile of women in SET, to encourage mentoring and the development of role models, to promote SET as an educational option to girls and young women, and to increase public awareness of advances in SET made by women scientists and engineers.

Dr Cannon combines an outstanding research career with a strong passion to promote and support women in the science, engineering and technology fields. She is an internationally recognized leading expert in the use of the global positioning system (GPS) satellites for precise positioning of mobile phones, navigating vehicles, and landing aircraft.

In her lecture she will discuss highlights of her engineering career and own work/family balance alongside results from recent surveys which reveal the cultural, educational and economic reasons for the low take-up of engineering among girls and the low number of women at the top of engineering professions.

The recently created Canada-UK programme is supported by the British Council, the President’s Office and the Institute of Gender and Health of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Office of the Chief Scientist of Health Canada and by both the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.