Order of the White Rose award received by engineering master’s student

University of Alberta electrical engineering master’s student and engineering physics graduate Grace Ciarniello received the 2025 Order of the White Rose award for her academic excellence and exemplary leadership.

The Order of the White Rose program awards scholarships to 14 Canadian women pursuing engineering careers in memory of the 14 women killed in the 1989 École Polytechnique de Montréal femicide.

During her undergraduate experience, Ciarniello was “incredibly supported by [her] family, peers, and supervisor,” and she had a “really positive experience.”

Ciarniello explained that engineering physics is “the best of both worlds of science and engineering, because [she] gets to understand how the world works at the most fundamental level, and then gets to apply that and use [her] creativity.”

It was “rewarding to be recognized for [her] academic accomplishments, volunteerism, and community work,” said Ciarniello. However, the responsibility felt “a bit daunting, because it is in recognition of the 14 women who were killed in the massacre.” 

The White Rose program has provided Ciarniello with financial support and has “connected [her] with other women in engineering at all different career levels.” 

She hopes to use the “resources and experiences [she has] gained through this award to provide connection, mentorship, and community to other women in engineering.” She aims to provide this support to both current and prospective engineering students.

“It comes with a lot of responsibility,” she explained. She hopes to “use this award to help other women and to continue the volunteer work [she has] been doing to support other women who want to go into [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] (STEM).”

Ciarniello helping to support women pursuing careers in STEM

Ciarniello served as a project lead for the U of A Student Team for Alberta Rocketry Research (STARR). She reflected on her time with STARR and the opportunity to work with “many students from different disciplines and degrees.” 

She was able to “collaborate with [her STARR team members], and support them as [she] gained more experience,” which was a “really valuable experience” for Ciarniello.

Her mentorship experience also developed through her involvement with Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science, and Technology (WISEST) and the Fem+ Mentorship Program, where she got to “one-on-one mentor a woman in high school who wants to go into STEM,” Ciarniello explained.

Reflecting on the individuals who inspired her to pursue science and engineering, Ciarniello shared that her father and aunt are engineers, her grandmother was a scientist, but lots of young women have “never met an engineer, let alone a female engineer.”

She feels so lucky “to be able to be that role model” for other women.

Nanotechnology and photonics are key areas of interest in Ciarniello’s research. She explained that “nanophotonics is how light interacts with really small structures on the order of the nanoscale, which is basically one thousand times thinner than the width of a human hair.”

Ciarniello’s work focuses on “making faster communications systems, and more energy efficient computers.” She shared that “it’s just really cool, being able to look under a microscope and say, ‘I made that!’”

This month, Ciarniello plans to transfer into a PhD program to “complete a thesis using nanophotonics to advance the field of ultrafast computing and communications.” Following her graduation, she hopes to work in research and development in a laboratory or technology company.