From a young girl in Hungary to her days as one of the first female students to graduate from electrical engineering at McGill, Marika Zelenka Roy’s journey has been quite exceptional and inspiring. If Ms. Roy is thankful for her days at McGill Engineering, it is partly for the education it gave her, partly that it helped her to an eventual career at Canadian Marconi Company (CMC), but mostly because it was where she met her husband-to-be, Alain Roy.
After the sale of her husband’s business (Ducros, Meilleur, Roy (DMR)) to Fujitsu, Ms. Roy deepened her commitment to her philanthropic activities. She became a supporter of many causes. As a McGill alumna, BEng’61, she helped launch the Department of Bioengineering by establishing its first endowed Chair with a $1.5 million gift. But Roy’s generosity goes beyond contributing to the Department of Bioengineering. She has also given to the construction of the Lorne M. Trottier Building and she supported the Montreal General and St. Mary’s hospitals with new equipment.
As an engineer she is well aware of the importance of collaboration between disciplines to foster innovation. “I believe that the Clinical Innovation Platform is a great opportunity for professionals and students from different backgrounds to work together. Health sciences, business and engineering can utilize the expertise and viewpoints of each stakeholder to generate new ideas and solutions to improve patient care and save lives,” said an energetic Ms. Roy.
Therefore, the Montreal General Hospital Foundation is proud to join this great initiative by offering the Marika Zelenka Roy Innovation Prize to support a clinical innovation project that will create a solution to an unmet need for patient care. “Such advances are needed to address vital healthcare issues. I believe that by working in collaboration, innovative solutions to better patient care will emerge.” Marika Roy.