Michelle Liu

Michelle Liu (they/them) is an uninvited third-generation settler based on the traditional land of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation. As a Queer, non-binary, racialized, and neurodivergent person, Michelle’s focus across their undertakings is on using their subject matter knowledge and lived experience to influence individuals, organizations, and systems to advance social justice. Michelle’s work is informed by various critical and anti-oppressive frameworks including decolonial, abolitionist, Queer, feminist, anti-racist, and intersectional frameworks. ​

Michelle is a Professional Engineer (P.Eng) in Ontario and a member in good standing of the Law Society of Ontario. Michelle’s speaking, activism, and policy advisory work has touched over 160 events, documents, and organizations. Michelle is also on the editorial team of the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, a multidisciplinary and peer-reviewed publication of scholarship on the social, economic, and legal status of women, trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming persons. ​ Michelle earned their Honours BASc and MASc in civil engineering (structural and cold regions engineering) from the University of Waterloo and worked in design and construction management for various consulting engineering firms. Michelle’s encounters with racism, homophobia, ableism, and gender-based violence in engineering inspired them to pursue their law degree (JD, Magna cum laude and Dean’s Award) and engineering PhD simultaneously at the University of Ottawa. While in law school, Michelle served two terms as the President of the Common Law Student Society, President of OUTLaw 2SLGBTQ+ Law Students Association, and member of the University Senate. Michelle has worked at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and Ecojustice Canada. ​ Michelle’s engineering PhD research, for which they received both the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholarship, uses sociolegal frameworks to understand the relationship between technological designs and the dominant norms in engineering such as masculinity and meritocracy. Michelle’s current priorities include becoming a professor of both law and engineering and to run a law practice advocating for equity-seeking people who experience discrimination in STEM workplaces. ​

Michelle’s volunteer work in both law and engineering has included serving as a Councillor (Board Member) of Professional Engineers Ontario, member of the Equity Advisory Group of the Law Society of Ontario, mentor with the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, Chair of the Waterloo Recent Engineering Alumni Council, member of uOttawa Law’s Recent Alumni Engagement Council, ambassador with the Ontario Network of Women in Engineering, and Co-Chair of the EDIA Task Force of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers. Michelle also co-created and co-funds the Liu-Kennington Award for the 2SLGBTQ+ Engineering Community, the first university-level scholarship for 2SLGBTQ+ engineering students in Canada. For their leadership, activism, and impact, Michelle has received over 20 awards from local and national institutions, including being named an EDI Leader in Engineering Workplaces by Engineers Canada in 2021-2022.