Meet Maral Mohagheghi

Maral Mohagheghi is currently pursuing her Dual Degree Bachelor of Arts in Honours Business Administration, at the Ivey Business School, and her Honours Bachelor of Engineering Science in Mechatronics Systems Engineering at Western University. She will work as a Full-Time student Sales and Trading Analyst at CIBC. In her spare time, she likes to do karate, and read.

When did your love of STEM begin?

I have always loved problem-solving. Mathematics was my favourite subject ever since I can remember. In high school, I was looking for a career that would allow me to be creative and solve problems. This search introduced me to my FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team. After joining the team, I got a chance to design and build a robot to complete that year’s FRC challenge. I met a lot of other students who shared my interests, and was mentored by university students from a variety of STEM fields including engineering. I learned a lot about what an engineer does from my coaches and mentors during the 4 years I was on the team. I realized that Engineering was a career path I would enjoy.

What is the best part about working in the field of STEM?

The best part about working in STEM is that it gives me an opportunity to use all that I have learned throughout school, clubs and teams, and personal research to solve real problems. This allows me to come up with creative and tangible solutions that could help make someone’s day better. I also really love the fact that I can use my skill set to further advance in a field I am passionate about, and that I believe in because engineering is about having a problem-solving mindset that could be used in all aspects of life.

What advice would you give young women interested in a career in STEM?

My advice is to go for it. If you really love something, you should try to pursue it as a career. School and work are a lot more interesting and enjoyable when you are passionate about the field you are in.