What your financial support means for students

June 24, 2021

Each year the Uni­ver­si­ty of Regi­na Fac­ul­ty Asso­ci­a­tion awards three bur­saries to stu­dents — the Dr. Peter Hem­ing­way Bur­sary, the Faye Rafter Bur­sary, the Dr. Sarah Short­en Memo­r­i­al Bur­sary. The finan­cial sup­port made pos­si­ble by URFA mem­bers helps stu­dents achieve their goals. Read on to find out how your sup­port made a dif­fer­ence this past year.

Maria Azam, 2020 recip­i­ent of the Dr. Peter Hem­ing­way Bursary

This spring, Maria Azam com­plet­ed her third year of a four-year Bach­e­lor of Sci­ence with a major in Com­put­er Sci­ence and a minor in Cre­ative Tech­nolo­gies. She received the URFA Dr. Peter Hem­ing­way Memo­r­i­al Bur­sary to sup­port her most recent year of studies. 

“Receiv­ing this award allows me to be sta­ble in my last year of under­grad­u­ate edu­ca­tion, enabling me to work towards my goals with reduced finan­cial bur­den,” says Azam. ​“Ulti­mate­ly, this award brings me one step fur­ther on a path of bridg­ing the gap between art and tech­nol­o­gy to cre­ate dig­i­tal tools that pro­mote a more pos­i­tive future for my community.”

The poten­tial of tech­nol­o­gy to cre­ate a pos­i­tive future is part of what inter­est­ed Azam in study­ing com­put­er sci­ence. This field allows her to com­bine her artis­tic abil­i­ties and cre­ative inter­est with tech­nol­o­gy in ways that will have a pos­i­tive impact in soci­ety. This sum­mer, through an NSERC Under­grad­u­ate Stu­dent Research Award, Azam is part of a team that is devel­op­ing an aug­ment­ed real­i­ty appli­ca­tion that will assist peo­ple liv­ing with demen­tia with their dai­ly routines. 

Chi­som Imeg­wu, 2020 recip­i­ent of Dr. Sarah Short­en Memo­r­i­al Bursary

This year, Chi­som Imeg­wu grad­u­ates with a Bach­e­lor of Applied Sci­ence with a major in Petro­le­um Sys­tems Engi­neer­ing. In her fourth and final year of stud­ies, she received the URFA Dr. Sarah Short­en Memo­r­i­al Bursary. 

“It means a lot, espe­cial­ly with the pan­dem­ic,” says Imeg­wu, of receiv­ing the sup­port. ​“I think every­body knew that stu­dents and a lot of oth­er peo­ple were fac­ing dif­fi­cul­ties with being able to afford school. It was real­ly nice to know that the fac­ul­ty asso­ci­a­tion was def­i­nite­ly in sup­port of help­ing students.”

Hav­ing grown up with engi­neers among her fam­i­ly and friends, engi­neer­ing has been a long­stand­ing area of inter­est for Imeg­wu. Through a co-op place­ment in her third year, Imeg­wu devel­oped an inter­est in the areas of pipeline integri­ty — ensur­ing a pipeline func­tions prop­er­ly — and in project man­age­ment. She is aim­ing to find a posi­tion in a sim­i­lar area of work now that her stud­ies are complete. 

Nadine Hiltz, 2020 recip­i­ent of the Faye Rafter Bursary

Nadine Hiltz is pur­su­ing a Bach­e­lor of Indige­nous Social Work.