Sophie Le Page is an engineer at heart, having tried civil and chemical engineering before discovering her passion for software engineering in undergrad, where the ease and access to write software code allows for fast prototyping and creativity outlets. Exploring the job market throughout her co-op experience as a software developer at several organizations allowed for her to participate in challenging projects and problem-solving opportunities, including writing a hockey simulation app to visualizing satellite data feeds.

Sophie’s curiosity for research led her to complete a Master of Computer Science and Applied artificial intelligence (AI), focusing on web security applications and deducing whether an attacker owns a server hosting an attack or whether they hacked into the server, effecting the way in which attacks are dealt with. Learning about the social and economic aspects of security beyond computer science coupled with a heightened interest in AI fundamental research lead to a Ph.D. pursuit in ethical engineering of AI. Value tensions between security and usability fuel interest in translating ethical issues into engineering practice.

Two pop-culture references that thematically resonate with some of Sophie’s research interests are the movie Elephant Man and the song Electioneering by Radiohead. The Elephant Man highlights (non-) discrimination: Merrick, the main character is born with a disorder that causes disfigurement, for which he is the target of inhuman treatment. It is later discovered that his rough exterior hides a refined soul, and that Merrick can teach the stodgy British upper class of the time a lesson about dignity. The second, Electioneering by Radiohead, is a play on words between elections and engineering. Radiohead is referring to the way in which poor countries are treated by large, multinational organisations. The lyrics “When I go forwards/You go backwards/And somewhere we will meet” nods to politicians gaining more control and power to the detriment of people losing control and power, where the notion of a balance by “meeting somewhere” only exists through the act of politicians canvassing for votes and meeting people in person somewhere along the way.