Monique Frize, , née Aubry (born 7 January 1942) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

biomedical engineer Biomedicine (also referred to as Western medicine, mainstream medicine or conventional medicine)

medical instrument A medical device is any device intended to be used for medical purposes. Significant potential for hazards are inherent when using a device for medical purposes and thus medical devices must be proved safe and effective with reasonable assura ...

s and

decision support system A decision support system (DSS) is an information system that supports business or organizational decision-making activities. DSSs serve the management, operations and planning levels of an organization (usually mid and higher management) and ...

s. Notably, her scientific research and outreach efforts led her to receive the prestigious distinction of Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

Education

Born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Frize received a Bachelor of Applied Science (

B.A.Sc. A Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS or BASc) is an undergraduate academic degree of applied sciences. Usage In Canada, the Netherlands and other places the Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) is equivalent to the Bachelor of Engineering, and is cl ...

) degree in Electrical Engineering from the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

in 1966 - the first Canadian woman to graduate from this program at the university. From 1967 to 1969, Frize was an Athlone Fellow as she completed her Master of Philosophy ( M.Phil.) degree in Engineering in Medicine from

Imperial College of Science and Technology Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a cultural district in South Kensington that included museums, ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. In 1986, she received a Master's in Business Administration (

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

) degree from the

Université de Moncton The Université de Moncton is a Canadian French-language university in New Brunswick. It includes campuses in Edmundston, Moncton, and Shippagan. The university was founded in 1963 following the recommendations of the royal commission on hig ...

. She received her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degree from Erasmus Universiteit in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in 1989.

Career

Industry

Monique Frize worked as a clinical engineer for 18 years, starting at Hopital Notre-Dame in Montreal, Quebec (1971-1979) before becoming the Director of the Regional Clinical Engineering Service in

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. Th ...

, New Brunswick. While in Moncton, she became the first Chair of the Division of Clinical Engineering for the International Federation of Medical and Biological Engineering, from 1985 to 1990 /. Dr. Frize was elected Chair of the Council of Societies of the IFMBE 2015-2022 and a Council Member of the Federation.

Academia

In 1989, Frize was appointed the first holder of the

Nortel Nortel Networks Corporation (Nortel), formerly Northern Telecom Limited, was a Canadian Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications and data networking equipment manufacturer headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. It was founded in ...

NSERC The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC; , CRSNG) is the major federal agency responsible for funding natural sciences and engineering research in Canada. NSERC directly funds university professors and students as ...

Women in Science and Engineering Chair (CWSE) at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

and a professor of Electrical Engineering. In 1997, she was appointed Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

and Professor in the School of Information Technology and Engineering at the

. She is currently a Distinguished Research Professor and Professor Emerita. She is also a founding member of th
International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES)
and was President from 2002 to 2008 as well as being President of the Education and Research Institute (ERI) from 2007. In 2018, in collaboration with

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; ) is the federal institution tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is the 16th largest library in the world. T ...

and the University of Ottawa Library - Archives and Special Collections, as a member of INWES-ERI, she led an initiative to develop a centre of expertise to document the history of women who have contributed to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in Canada. INWES-ERI is now CIWES (Canadian Institute for Women Engineers and Scientists)

Scientific research

Frize's research interests include

medical imaging Medical imaging is the technique and process of imaging the interior of a body for clinical analysis and medical intervention, as well as visual representation of the function of some organs or tissues (physiology). Medical imaging seeks to revea ...

, medical decision support systems, medical technology management issues ( clinical engineering) and technical services for hospitals in developing countries.

Awards and honors

Monique Frize has received numerous awards and honors throughout her career. In 1992, she was made a Fellow of the

Canadian Academy of Engineering The Canadian Academy of Engineering () is a national academy of distinguished professional engineers in fields of engineering, who are elected on the basis of "their distinguished service and contribution to society, to the country and to the profes ...

. In 1993, she was inducted into the

, in recognition of being "well-known in the field of

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logica ...

" and for being "a role model and an inspiration for women seeking careers in science". She has received several honorary degrees from the University of Ottawa,

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

Lakehead University Lakehead University is a public research university with campuses in Thunder Bay and Orillia, Ontario, Canada. Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate programs, gradua ...

and from Mount St-Vincent University. She received the Gold Medal in 2010 from

Professional Engineers Ontario Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO; known until 1993 as the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario, APEO) is a self-regulatory body that licenses and governs Ontario's professional engineers. PEO was created on June 15, 1922. It has a ...

and the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers and she became Fellow of

Engineers Canada Engineers Canada ( French: ') is the national organization of the 12 provincial and territorial associations that regulate the practice of engineering in Canada. Engineers Canada serves these associations, which are its sole members, by delivering ...

in 2010. In 2013, she was awarded the honour of Fellow of the

Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society The Canadian Medical and Biological Engineering Society (CMBES) is a technical society representing the biomedical engineering community in Canada. CMBES is supported by its membership which consists of biomedical engineers, biomedical engineer ...

. In 2019 she was a recipient of the

Governor General's Award The Governor General's Awards are a collection of annual awards presented by the governor general of Canada, recognizing distinction in numerous academic, artistic, and social fields. The first award was conceived and inaugurated in 1937 by the ...

in Commemoration of the

Persons Case ''Edwards v Canada (AG)'', also known as the ''Persons Case'' (), is a Canadian constitutional case that decided in 1929 that women were eligible to sit in the Senate of Canada. The legal case was put forward by the Government of Canada on the ...

Publications

* ''A Woman in Engineering: Memoirs of a Trailblazer''. University of Ottawa Press, Ottawa, Canada.

References

External links

Women in Science profile

Monique Frize’s archives
from University of Ottawa Library - Archives and Special Collections
International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES) fonds
from University of Ottawa Library - Archives and Special Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Frize, Monique 1942 births Living people Alumni of Imperial College London Canadian biomedical engineers Canadian academics in engineering Academic staff of Carleton University Officers of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Engineering Academics from Montreal Université de Moncton alumni Academic staff of the University of New Brunswick University of Ottawa alumni Academic staff of the University of Ottawa Women bioengineers Governor General's Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case winners