2019 Alumni Awards

After graduating in 1969 from the University of Waterloo, Mike joined Price Waterhouse in Toronto. In July 2006, he retired as an Audit Partner. From 1976 to 1978, he was assigned to the International Firm’s Continuing Education Task Force, based in London, England. Commencing in 1984, he chaired the Canadian Firm’s National Continuing Education Committee until 1990. From 1995 to 2005, he developed and managed the Firm’s practice in Cuba.

Throughout his career, he volunteered his time to a number of organizations, including chairing the Boards of The Donwood Institute, the University of Waterloo, The Michener Institute of Applied Health Sciences, the Friends of Ontario Universities and Hospital Diagnostic Imaging Repository Services. He has chaired many audit committees since 1983, including three public companies during the past ten years.

Mike obtained his ICD.D designation in 2007. He serves as Executive Chairman and CEO of Kelvin Thermal Energy Inc. and is a Consulting Partner with Ortus Strategies (formerly FGI Europe AG).

Kinesiology alumnus Dr. Sandra Olney has made significant and lasting contributions to the field of rehabilitation therapy. Dr. Olney is a Professor Emeritus at Queen’s University in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. With former degrees from McGill and Queen’s, Dr. Olney completed her PhD in Biomechanics in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo in 1982. Her research studied the biomechanics of physical movement and rehabilitation, with a particular focus on normal and abnormal gait.

At Queen’s University, Dr. Olney has worked in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy as a Professor, Director of the School, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, and is now a Professor Emeritus. Dr. Olney has made essential contributions to the development and implementation of rehabilitation programs around the world through her involvement with the International Centre for the Advancement of Community-Based Rehabilitation.

Dr. Olney’s global-facing work on integrating research into improving health outcomes in developing nations resulted in her receiving an Honorary Doctor of Medicine from Rigas Stradina Universitate in Latvia.

At the University of Waterloo, Dr. Olney has contributed to a number of initiatives on campus in the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences. She is committed to the support of education and nurturing new talent.

Nick Aroutzidis exemplifies what hard work and commitment can accomplish both at work and in the community. After graduating with a degree in applied mathematics from what was then the University of Western Ontario, Nick came to Waterloo Engineering where he completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in civil engineering, focusing on structural engineering.

In 1994, he founded NA Engineering Associates Inc., a consulting engineering firm with offices in Stratford, London, and Kincardine. Nick is managing partner of the firm which provides engineering services to the nuclear power industry throughout Ontario. This past July, NA Engineering was acquired by Westinghouse Electric Company.

In Stratford and surrounding area, Nick is known for his engineering skills and knowledge as well as for his philanthropic leadership and commitment to making the world around him a better place to live.

Here are just a few examples of the numerous ways he’s given back to his community.

For over 20 years, Nick has been a member of the Stratford Rotary Club and has served as its president. He is a recipient of the prestigious Paul Harris Fellowship Award, one of the highest honours Rotary can bestow upon a person.

Nick’s engineering background and, most importantly, vision, were instrumental in creating the Rotary Respite House, a residential home in Stratford that provides respite care for children with developmental delays or who are medically fragile. Parents can arrange for a stay for their children, giving them some much-needed time to recharge. Nick continues to be the chair of this outstanding project. Besides volunteering with his local Rotary Club, Nick donates his time to the Stratford Junior B Hockey Team, the Huron-Perth Lakers Hockey Association and the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. Over the years, Nick has provided financial support to Stratford General Hospital through strong fundraising efforts.

NA Engineering Associates made a donation of $125,000 over five years towards a new MRI machine and provided a generous gift to name a new pediatric room. Supporting youth is another of Nick’s passions. His firm provides scholarships to high schools in Stratford as well as to engineering students at the University of Waterloo and Western University. And recently, he made a sizeable commitment towards the establishment of the Institute for Hellenistic Studies at the University of Waterloo.

After completing his undergraduate degree in electrical and electronics engineering in Iran, Martin Basiri chose to come to Waterloo Engineering for his master’s degree in mechatronics engineering.

While he was still a graduate student, Martin was faced with the challenge of bringing his twin younger brothers Meti and Massi to Canada to attend school. Despite being already in the country himself, Martin was told by student recruiters in his native Iran that it would be impossible for his brothers to study in Canada. Not only did Martin successfully prove them all wrong and arrange for his brothers to attend college in Ontario, but he became aware of the challenges millions of people encounter when attempting to enrol in postsecondary institutions abroad.

His brothers’ experience as well as his own in applying to study in Canada inspired him to launch ApplyBoard a few years after he graduated from Waterloo Engineering in 2013. The company, led by Martin and his twin brothers, now assists tens of thousands of students through the application processes required by schools and governments.

ApplyBoard essentially offers a way for students around the world to find and apply to universities, colleges, and high schools in Canada and the United States. By using artificial intelligence algorithms, students are matched to the programs they are most qualified for based on their academic background, desired course of study, and financial means. The platform also makes it easier for prospective students to submit additional documents as well as obtain required visas. ApplyBoard reviews and processes each application, sending only complete and qualified ones to its partner schools.

ApplyBoard has grown quickly since its founding in 2015 and now employs over 250 in Kitchener, throughout Ontario, and abroad. Martin and his brothers’ belief that “Education is a right, not a privilege,” fuels their mission to make education accessible to students across the globe.

Thomas Mueller (MA ’92, Regional Planning and Resource Development) is the President and CEO of the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC), a national not-for-profit organization advancing green building and sustainable community development in Canada since 2002. In 2018, he was appointed as CEO of Green Business Certification Inc. Canada.

Widely respected as a leading authority in green buildings in Canada and globally. Thomas chaired the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) B.C. steering committee responsible for the first adaptation of the LEED green building rating systems outside the United States, and the first green building program in Canada at Metro Vancouver. For his green building work, Thomas has received numerous awards; most recently, he became a recipient of Canada’s 2015 Clean50 Award and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada.

A proud Waterloo alumnus, Thomas served as co-chair of the Environment 3 Green Building Committee and has been an advisor to the Dean of Environment for more than 10 years.

Jennifer Martin (MDP ’14, Development Practice) is the Executive Director of Home Free, a registered Canadian charity working to transform the lives of children in orphanages by keeping families together, making families through reunification and foster care, and building communities where every child can thrive.

Since founding Home Free in 2012, Jennifer has helped thousands of children in Uganda and countless others worldwide by influencing positive systemic change and supporting the global movement toward a family care model that enhances child development, upholds children's rights, and creates healthier societies.

A further testament to her compassionate nature and commitment to making a positive impact, Jennifer is a public health nurse who works in Indigenous communities in Nunavut and British Columbia. She also volunteers with the Ottawa Community Immigrant Services Organization as a Group Leader for the Refugee Family Sponsorship program.

Joseph Bondy-Denomy was born and raised in London, Ontario, and started his transformative experience at the University of Waterloo in 2003. Dr. Bondy-Denomy graduated from the Biology program in 2008, spending co-op terms in labs at Western and McGill. From there, Dr. Bondy-Denomy began his PhD in Dr. Alan Davidson’s lab at the University of Toronto in 2008, graduating in 2014. As a PhD student, Joe studied viruses that infect and kill bacteria, trying to understand how these two natural enemies battle each other. Joe discovered the first examples of proteins made by these viruses that inhibit the CRISPR-Cas bacterial immune system. Joe then started his own research group at the University of California, San Francisco, in 2015 and is currently an Assistant Professor. The Bondy-Denomy lab continues to investigate CRISPR-Cas immunity, with implications in therapeutics for human genetic and infectious disease, as well as our basic understanding the microbial world.

As well, Dr. Bondy-Denomy is Scientific Advisory Board Member of SNIPR Biome and Excision BioTherapies and has expanded his research activities to the private sector as co-founder of and Scientific Advisor to Acrigen Biosciences.

A successful teacher, mentor and champion for the sciences, Ms. Wang-Martin shares her passion for chemistry, STEM, and the “Four Cs” of learning: critical thinking, communication, collaboration and creativity. She partners with educators from elementary to post-secondary levels and with community leaders to design and implement opportunities for students to build their Four Cs skills.

In addition to teaching the sciences, Diana advises and leads the Glenforest STEM team and STEM outreach events such as youth STEM conferences. She is involved in many other educational initiatives, such as the Nahani STEAM mentorship program, which she founded, where high school students mentor and promote STEAM to elementary students. Diana instills a joy of science and the STEM disciplines in young people. Her inspiration impacts and inspires students to pursue STEM careers and prepares them to be tomorrow’s leaders.

Ms. Wang-Martin received the Peel District School Board’s Award of Excellence in Education in 2016, the Ontario Secondary School Teacher Federation Teacher Recognition Award in 2017, and the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence in 2017 and 2018.

Dr. Kathy Dumbleton is an Associate Clinical Professor at the School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley, and an Independent Clinical Research Scientist and Consultant. She completed her optometry training at the University of Wales in Cardiff and at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London in 1985, and subsequently completed her MSc in Physiological Optics (1988) and PhD in Vision Science (2013) at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She is a Fellow and Diplomate of the Cornea, Contact Lens and Refractive Technologies (CCLRT) Section of the American Academy of Optometry and a Fellow of the British Contact Lens Association.

Dr. Margaret Hansen-des Groseilliers and Dr. Roland des Groseilliers are icons in Canadian optometry. Between them, they have served in almost every leadership position within the profession.

Margaret and Roland were classmates and graduated from the College of Optometry of Ontario in 1965. They went on to practice from 1967 to 2011 at the Ottawa Optometric Clinic.

They have each served as Past-President of the Ottawa Society of Optometrists, of which Roland is a founding member. Both are Past-Presidents of the CAO (Margaret served as the first woman in the role) and both have held leadership roles within COETF. Roland is a Past-President of the Ontario Association of Optometrists (OAO) and the World Council of Optometry.

Dr. Joshua Smith completed his Doctor of Optometry degree at the University of Waterloo in 2013 after completing a Master’s degree at the University of Calgary in 2008 and a Bachelor of Science (Honours) from Mount Allison University in 2005.

He has been in private practice in eastern Ontario since 2013, primarily in the rural township of Alexandria. He has a special interest in visual neurorehabilitation, particularly in cases of stroke. He is a staff consultant at the Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria, working with the hospital’s stroke rehabilitation unit.

Michael Kani is a community pharmacist who is owner of Michael’s Pharmacy in Saskatoon and co-owner of Langham Pharmacy in Langham, Saskatchewan. He’s also a consultant to the Community Pharmacy Professionals Advancing Safety in Saskatchewan program and the Medical Advisor for ZYUS Life Sciences.

Michael’s professional career has had a profound impact on patients and fellow health-care providers. In his community, he’s advocated passionately for expanded scope of practice, providing services like point-of-care testing, pharmacogenomics, and pet medicine, which are readily embraced by his patients.

Early in his career, Michael realized that few health-care providers were talking to patients about medical cannabis. There was a need in his community so he established consultation and referral services. The service was a hit with patients, many of whom had questions and were interested in evidence-based answers from an expert. Since then Michael spearheaded the education of the health-care community on medical cannabis in pharmacy. He’s a regularly featured speaker at health-care conferences on the topic and is the author of Canada’s first accredited program for medical cannabis.

Michael was recently recognized nationally by the Canadian Pharmacists Association with their New Practitioner of the Year Award.

Paul do Forno (BMath ’95) graduated from St. Jerome’s University in 1995. During his time at St. Jerome’s, do Forno lived in residence and was an active member in student life activities, participating in the Entrepreneur Club and the Computer Science Club, as well as being a member of the Varsity Soccer Club.

Building on the experience he gained during his co-op placements in University, do Forno entered the technology sector and established himself as one of the leading ecommerce and digital experts in the United States. Now a Managing Director at Deloitte Digital, Paul has more than 25 years of experience in strategy, technology, and digital transformation. He has led some of the world’s largest and most innovative e-commerce initiatives with brands including Hyatt Hotels, Foot Locker, and Target.

Paul also volunteers as a member of the Associate Membership Council of the National Retail Federation, and as Treasurer and Chair of the Technology Committee at the Portuguese American Leadership Council (PALCUS). More recently, Paul joined the board of directors of Columbus Catholic Social Services, an agency that provides services to vulnerable seniors and families, and offers a holistic approach aimed at alleviating the cycle of poverty.

Paul’s professional achievements as a leader in the field of eCommerce, together with his involvement in volunteer organizations, marks his commitment to leadership and volunteerism in the community.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, affectionately known as “E,” is an entrepreneur who is passionate about collaborating with local talent and capital to build a strong future within Africa. In 2012, E graduated from St. Jerome’s University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Honours Legal Studies, and a minor in International Studies.

Just two years after graduating, E co-founded Andela, an African-based company that invests in and helps identify software developers in emerging markets. As Africa’s largest engineering organization, with over 1,000 software engineers, Andela received investment from Mark Zuckerberg and Google Ventures.

In 2016, E co-founded and became CEO of Flutterwave, a business that builds payments technology and infrastructure, connecting Africa to the global economy. He led the company to become one of the all-time fastest growing payments technology businesses, processing over $2 billion with more than 50 million transactions. Flutterwave also attracted significant investment from experienced players in the global payments arena, including Mastercard.

Having stepped down as CEO of Flutterwave in 2018, E now heads Street Capital, where he spends time helping founders, philanthropists, and investors from around the world understand how to build fast growing and impactful technology businesses in Africa.

In recognition of his success, Forbes listed E on their Top 30 Under 30 for Enterprise Technology in 2018. That same year, E was recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

Asnake Dabala began his time at Renison University College in 2011, shortly after coming to Canada from Ethiopia as a refugee with his family. He graduated as Valedictorian with a Social Development Studies degree in 2013, followed by a Bachelor of Social Work in 2014, both from Renison. Asnake went on to complete his Master of Social Work degree at Wilfrid Laurier University in 2015. In addition to his studies, he worked as a Residential Support Worker, Community Support Coordinator, Peer Support Group Facilitator, and Teaching Assistant. Asnake has been working with the YWCA of Waterloo in supportive housing since his arrival in Canada, and is now the Programming Coordinator. He also sits on the Board of Directors for The Working Centre. His contributions to Renison and to the community are recognized by this award, which we are pleased to present to Asnake as part of Renison’s 60^th Anniversary Gala Celebration.

In recognition of an exemplary career, dedication to sustainability and service to community

Winnie graduated from the University of Waterloo in 2000 with a degree in Systems Design Engineering minoring in Management Science.

Winnie has held several roles at Google where she has now worked for over 15 years. In her current role as Director of Energy, Google Cloud, Winnie is responsible for strategy, product offerings and strategic relationships with customers in the energy industry. She helps companies transform their businesses through big data analytics, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

On her LinkedIn page Winnie states that her mission is to make positive, step changes for the environment and animals. She is a member of the National Council Advisory group for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and partnered with WWF to co-found the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online, uniting Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and many other tech companies to ban online sales of elephant ivory and endangered animal products. She and has been running an annual fundraiser at Google for several years which has raised millions of dollars for WWF, the Humane Society, Guide Dogs for the blind and other charities.

Winnie’s leadership has been recognized by her employer several times as recipient of Google’s Founder’s Award and a three time recipient of Google’s Executive Management Group Award. In addition to her volunteer contributions to WWF, Winnie has served as a volunteer with Stanford University, the Nature Conservancy, the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Obama for America campaign.

Currently, Winnie is pursuing a Master of Science in Energy Policy and Climate at Johns Hopkins University.

In recognition of commitment to innovation and entrepreneurial success

Prosithyrith (Richard) grew up in Cambodia where children are warned at a young age to watch out for landmines. When he moved to Canada at the age of 13, he discovered the freedom of living without fear of where he stepped. His childhood experiences made the pursuit of a mechanical engineering degree from Waterloo a natural choice because before he was old enough to drive, he knew he wanted to build a machine that could rid the world of landmines.

Even as a first-year student, Richard began discussing his goal with classmates but it wasn’t until he joined St. Paul’s GreenHouse in the fall term of 2015 that he took the entrepreneurship plunge. With his co-founder Christian Lee, Richard began developing a prototype and a business which they called Landmine Boys (since renamed Demine Robotics). Their goal was to create a cost-effective robot to remove landmines, that was repairable, easy to manufacture, and could be used by NGO’s.

Richard and his team gained national prominence by winning several student awards and competitions before graduating in 2016. Demine Robotics continues to operate in both Canada and Cambodia and recently completed a $50,000 Kickstarter campaign to complete testing and bring their current model, Jevit, to market by 2020.

Richard completed the MBET program in 2017 and was named to Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30 in 2018.

In recognition of commitment to innovation and entrepreneurial success

Rachel Thompson turned a big idea into an award-winning social profit business. As she was nearing the completion of her science degree in Applied Health Studies she entered the 2015 Big Ideas Challenge and won a term in St. Paul’s GreenHouse.

While she was with GreenHouse, Rachel launched a social venture called Marlena Books (a portmanteau of her grandmothers’ given names, Marilyn and Helena). Because of her own families’ experience, Rachel had recognized a gap and intended to find an innovative solution to help adults with dementia get more enjoyment and cognitive stimulation from leisure reading.

Four years later, Rachel and Marlena Books have raised over $300,000 in cash and in-kind support by winning multiple pitch competitions including Velocity’s $25K and the 2018 AGE-WELL National Impact Challenge.

Today, Rachel leads a growing social venture which researches and publishes books and other adaptive leisure reading materials for dementia patients. Marlena books feature mature content modified to meet the needs of individuals living with Alzheimer’s and dementia and are sold in bulk to long-term care facilities across Canada and directly to customers via their website and app.

Rachel’s story garners widespread media attention and she uses that platform to promote the value of the GreenHouse social impact incubator. Rachel was recognized by her faculty with the 2018 Young Alumni Award for Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo.