Investing In Future Tech Talent Is Key To Growing B.C.’s Tech Sector

VANCOUVER, August 25, 2020 —  As part of the 2020 Technology Impact Awards (TIAs), the BC Tech Association (BC Tech) is proud to announce the TIAs Scholarship recipients.

This marks the 15th year that BC Tech has supported high-school and post-secondary students in pursuing careers in technology and innovation. Given the “Purpose” theme of this year’s TIAs, and the key role tech is playing in the fight against COVID-19, providing scholarship grants to students who are passionate about technology and having an impact on their communities is particularly meaningful.

“Access to talent continues to be one of the largest constraints facing tech companies of all sizes. Investing in future talent is essential for growing B.C.’s tech sector, and BC Tech is proud to help make education more accessible to students while also supporting the community by developing talented future professionals,” said Jill Tipping, President and CEO of BC Tech.

The “Spirit of BC Tech” Scholarship fund bursary celebrates one post-secondary and one Grade 12 student who best exemplifies the values of B.C.’s thriving tech sector by demonstrating how their sense of purpose inspired them to overcome challenges, solve problems, and achieve excellence.

Earlier this month, Tipping spoke with the recipients via Zoom about what it meant to win a scholarship. A video recording and photos of the celebration are available here. “Every year we continue to be impressed by the passion and determination students express in the applications we receive. Our scholarship recipients truly represented this year’s TIAs theme of Purpose. They exhibited their desire to utilize technology as a force for good by detailing the innovative ways they would use technology to support their communities,” Tipping said.

For the students, finding out they had won a scholarship was an emotional experience. “I knew it would be very difficult for me to go to university without a scholarship. Learning I had won, it felt surreal,” said high school recipient, Philip Vargas.

The 2020 TIAs Scholarship recipients are:

Jax Bailey: Jax is a second-year British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) student who aims to become a shop teacher so he can incorporate both trade work and technology into his classes for his students. He wants to help future students like him who are torn between passions explore opportunities to leverage technology in any industry.

Ellie Gartell: Ellie is a third-year Civil Engineering student at UBC Okanagan who is passionate about using her engineering degree to improve communities through technology. Upon graduation she would like to work with cities to develop technological solutions to combat water issues in B.C.

Tiffany Quon: Tiffany is an Engineering Physics student specializing in Computer Sciences at the University of British Columbia who is interested in the impact of technology on human emotions and how tech can be used for good. Tiffany wants to explore and resolve friction between people and technology and utilize tech to better people’s lives.

Muhammad Rayyan Siddiqui: Muhammad first became enamoured by tech at the age of nine when he began teaching himself Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. He later learned programming and used his self-taught skills to support his community by working with the B.C. Muslim Association to provide innovative mobile app solutions that foster community engagement and enhance their reach. Muhammad will be entering the Bachelor of Science program at the University of British Columbia in the fall.

Philip David Vargas: Phillip is a future architecture student entering his first year at the University of British Columbia in the fall. He sees architecture and housing as forces for good, and wants to combine architecture and tech to help families’ livelihoods.

Mona Yu: Mona is passionate about using innovation and cutting-edge technology to solve global problems and make a practical difference in people’s lives. Bound for the University of British Columbia in the fall, she will be majoring in Integrated Engineering with the goal of becoming a Humanitarian Engineer, using technology to improve the quality of life in developing countries.

A special congratulations to the winners of the Spirit of BC Tech — Purpose Scholarship fund bursary recipients: Muhammad Rayyan Siddiqui and Jax Bailey.

About the BC Tech Association

Making B.C. the best place to grow and scale a tech company has been the mission of the BC Tech Association since 1993. While our members focus on growing their businesses, BC Tech has been providing opportunities for our industry members to collaborate, learn, and grow together. We are dedicated to connecting companies, developing talent, and advocating so our industry and our province thrive. To learn more visit www.wearebctech.com.

Media Contact
Kathleen Reid
T: 604-724-1242
E: media@wearebctech.com