Hard work and a keen sense of social responsibility have taken UBC graduate Rachael L’Orsa to great heights at a young age. Now completing a Master of Applied Science degree in electrical and computer engineering in Calgary, this new alumna’s UBC spirit remains as strong today as it was when she was a student, along with an ever-present drive to make the world a better place.
Never content with the ordinary, L’Orsa completed two concurrent degrees and served on the University Senate while at UBC’s Okanagan campus. She was an integral member of the Engineering Undergraduate Society, as well as an enthusiastic science ambassador with the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Science.
She was quick to share her love of science with local school children, leading two young mentees to honours in the 2010 Canada-Wide Science Fair. Rachael also encouraged young girls to pursue careers in engineering, working as a student coordinator for the Women in Engineering program.
Always a top student, Rachael received numerous scholarships and awards, including a UBC Undergraduate Student Research Award. She established a reputation for research excellence in the wider community and contributed as an undergraduate student at several symposia including BC Innovation Council’s CONNECT and the UBC Rising Stars of Research.
Most recently, she received a prestigious Julie Payette NSERC Research Scholarship which she will use to pursue her dream of developing robotic prosthetics.
In her Master’s research, L’Orsa plans to improve the control systems for tele-operated robotic devices such as the NeuroArm, a robotic device for microsurgery that places a surgeon, in near real time, in tune with a patient’s brain, surgical site and operating tools.
It is no wonder she was recognized with a UBC Alumni Achievement Award in 2010. Clearly, this is someone who will use her undergraduate student and research experience to make the world a better place -- starting with safer surgery for neurosurgical patients.
Humble about her achievements, Rachael is also quick to credit UBC as a contributor in her life’s journey. She believes in what the UBC community can do and she’s taken on a pioneering role in the Okanagan campus’s new alumni council.
As well, she is organizing the 2012 Western Canadian Robot Games and is hoping to involve several UBC teams. She continues to volunteer for UBC in a variety of ways and to connect with a growing number of Okanagan alumni in Calgary.
A proven leader, Rachael L’Orsa inspires others toward greatness as she works to accomplish her own remarkable goals.
Last reviewed 
10/3/2011 9:28:23 AM
