UCalgary researchers among Top 25 Women of Influence+ Canada Awards

Researchers from the Schulich School of Engineering are being honoured for their contributions to their field over the past year.

Drs. Marjan Eggermont and Hadis Karimipour are among those receiving the 2025 Top 25 Women of Influence+ Canada Awards.

They were picked from several hundred applications from a variety of fields including business, sports, philanthropy and education.

“Leadership isn’t just about the systems we change — it’s about building the conditions for others to drive transformation themselves,” says Maricel Dicion, managing director, Women of Influence+. “This year’s recipients exemplify that kind of leadership. By recognizing their work, we’re not only celebrating achievement, we’re reinforcing the many ways leadership shows up in the world and the power it has to shape the future.”

Dicion says the award winners’ influence spans policy, innovation, cultural advocacy and economic advancement, shaping industry and communities.

Engineering a sustainable future

As Schulich’s first Interim associate dean – sustainability, Eggermont, BA’91, BFA’96, MFA’98, PhD’18, says she’s always trying to connect “the spaces in between” to reframe and rethink what she teaches and what she works on creatively.

Passionate about tackling the climate crisis, she blends art, science and sustainability to create solutions for future generations.

Eggermont’s approach has received many accolades since joining the University of Calgary in 2002, including being named to the American Society for Engineering Education Hall of Fame in 2023.

She says immigrating to Canada and never quite feeling like she’s content within the status quo has driven her to make a difference at a time when uncomfortable conversations and decisions need to happen.

“The planet will continue without us and will be a happening place for a few extreme organisms that like to feed on waste and methane, but this is currently the only habitable place with air to breathe and conditions conducive to life,” Eggermont says. “So, why not care for it?”

She says it’s a huge honour to be recognized with the Women of Influence+ Canada Award, adding it’s a “recognition that the space in between is a place worth being.”

Making the cyberworld safer

In less than four years, Karimipour, PhD, has become known and trusted internationally as a cybersecurity expert.

An associate professor in Schulich’s Department of Electrical and Software Engineering, she is also the Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Secure and Resilient Cyber-physical Systems.

Karimipour has continually received accolades for her work on intelligent AI-based monitoring and security analysis of critical infrastructure, including large-scale control systems and smart grids.

From being named a winner of the Most Inspiring Women in Cybersecurity by IT World Canada in 2022 to being one of Avenue Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2023 — among other honours — she uses her technical knowledge to make the world safer.

Opening doors for women in STEM and applying her research to real-life challenges by developing AI tools to help children with autism thrive, are among Karimipour’s accomplishments.

“Being recognized as a Top 25 Women of Influence+ is a reminder that true impact is not measured by titles or accolades, but by the ripples we create — challenging ideas, inspiring change and empowering others to rise,” Karimipour says.

The recipients were recognized at the 2025 Top 25 Women of Influence+ Awards Luncheon in Toronto on April 8.