Congratulations to Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, UBC Mechanical Engineering professor emeritus, and Shalaleh Rismani, fourth-year UBC Mechanical Engineering student, for receiving the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for their significant contributions as Canadian citizens.
For his humanitarianism and philanthropy, Dr. Iqbal received the medal from Member of Parliament for Vancouver Quadra Joyce Murray at a special ceremony on Sunday, December 16, 2012.
Dr. Iqbal retired in 1996 after a 31-year career of teaching and research in mechanical engineering at UBC. Three years later he co-founded the family-run Maria-Helena Foundation in 1999, a non-profit, non-sectarian Pakistani-Canadian organization that focuses on development in South Asia, primarily Pakistan. Its goal is to reduce poverty by supporting education (especially for girls), skills training for women, and health care for children.
For her cultural outreach within her community, Ms. Rismani was presented with her medal by Nassreen Filsoof, president and founder of Canadian Iranian Foundation on Sunday, December 16, 2012.
In the summer of 2009, Ms. Rismani started teaching Azeri dancing – a traditional folk dance from Azerbaijan and Northwestern Iran. These classes led to the establishment of the Chichaklar Azeri Dance troupe, whose aim to increase awareness of Azeri-Iranian culture in the Canadian society, especially amongst the youth. This troupe has been performing in many cultural venues and was featured on CTV Morning Live.
About the Medal
This new commemorative medal was created to mark the 2012 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada. The medal is a tangible way for Canada to honour Her Majesty for her service to this country. At the same time, it serves to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians. During the year of celebrations, 60,000 deserving Canadians will be recognized.
For more info on the medal, visit: http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14019