Catalyst Summer Program

Traditional Catalyst

Traditional Catalyst provides the opportunity to build, test, research, present and collaborate on projects rooted in Engineering design, entrepreneurship and research.  Participants will build leadership skills while working on STEM-related projects and attending talks and workshops from current students and Faculty. The Summer program provides the opportunity for participants to gain experience practicing design thinking and problem-solving while developing their technical skills!

Catalyst - Early Entrepreneurs 

Catalyst - Early Entrepreneurs is an exciting program for high school students who are ready to dive into the world of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business! In partnership with the Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business at the University of Waterloo, this program is designed to ignite students' entrepreneurial spirit. Located in Canada's top-ranked startup ecosystem, the Conrad School offers hands-on experiences in problem-solving, idea generation, and the foundations of building a business.

Through Catalyst - Early Entrepreneurs, students will engage directly with Waterloo's renowned entrepreneurial ecosystem, gaining unique insights and building skills that are essential for future innovators. Get ready to be part of a program that fuels your ideas and connects you with one of the world's most vibrant startup communities!

The Catalyst Summer Programs are only open to current high school students (entering grade 10 or higher in September 2025) and each applicant must submit an application in order to complete registration. Each session will be restricted to twenty-five students and you must apply for only one of the streams (Traditional Catalyst or Catalyst - Early Entrepreneurs).

Space is limited to 25 spots per session (150 total across the two streams). If you are successfully accepted into the program, you will be notified of which session date in your chosen stream you have been accepted for. You will then be sent a link to register for that session.

This program is planned to run in-person for Summer 2025.

We are planning for three sessions to run for both the Traditional Catalyst and Catalyst - Early Entrepreneurs in Summer 2025. 

• Session I - July 7th-18th
• Session II - July 21st-August 1st
• Session III - August 11th-22nd

During the application process, you will be asked which session dates you will be available to attend, and if accepted, you will be placed into a session based on availability. If you are no longer able to attend the session that you were accepted into, please email catalyst@uwaterloo.ca and we will see if we can switch you into another session, although there is no guarantee.

The 2025 program cost is $715+HST. 

Please note:

Payment will be due upon acceptance into the program. If accepted, applicants will receive an e-mail which provides information about using our registration system and paying the registration fee. There is no application fee for this program. If you are accepted into the program and offered a bursary, the bursary will be applied to your account before payment is due. 

Payment:

Catalyst accepts payment via Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard or AMEX) or Debit (Visa Debit or Debit MasterCard)

We do not accept cash or cheque payment.

Credit Card and debit payment must be made through our online registration system, we are not able to process payment on the phone or in person. 

With generous support from our supporters, Engineering Outreach is able to offer bursaries for our programs. A bursary can cover up to 95% of the program fee, and are awarded based on a completed application form. Bursaries offer the opportunity for children who otherwise would not be able to afford our programs to attend. In order to ensure as many children as possible benefit from these bursaries, there is a limit of one bursary per child per season. The application for bursaries will be available as a form within the registration system. 

Bursaries:

With generous support from our supporters, Engineering Outreach is able to offer bursaries and awards for our programming. Recipients are determined from a completed application form submitted through our registration system. 

You can access information about our Engineering Outreach Bursaries here!

Important Dates: 

Applications open: December 20th 

Applications close: January 13th

Evaluations will be sent out by January 24th, 2025.

If you are approved for a bursary and accepted into the Catalyst program, your bursary will be applied to your account before payment is due. You can apply for a bursary even if you have not yet completed your Catalyst application.

Please note this program runs in-person and is not an overnight program.

If you require overnight accommodations:

Overnight accommodations are optional and can be booked separately and links will be sent to accepted applicants for next steps.

Package pricing includes: 12 nights of accommodations, full meal plan (including lunches in Watson's), evening and weekend programming and chaperones.

Catalyst double room: $1625 (including taxes)

Catalyst single room: $1850 (including taxes)

To confirm, overnight accommodations are not required to attend this program and are available to book for those who require it.

Applications for the 2025 Catalyst Programs open on December 20th at 9AM EST.

• Complete an application form: this form will ask you for basic contact information and will confirm you have read the information on the website regarding the application process and deadlines. Once the application form is submitted, you will receive an email with a link to complete an online Kira assessment.
• Online assessment: Catalyst will be using an online assessment as part of the application process. A Kira assessment allows us to virtually meet you, get a sense of your personality and interests, and better understand how Catalyst will benefit you.

How the Online Assessment Works:

The process is simple. You will be asked a question either in video or written format, given prep time, and a set amount of time to respond. You will respond with a video for video questions, and text for written questions. It should only take 20 to 30 minutes total to complete and can be done on your own time. 

You will require a desktop or laptop computer with a functioning webcam, microphone, and internet connection. The system allows for unlimited practice sessions but once you start the formal interview questions, you only get one chance. This allows us to capture your candid responses. 

Don't worry, you can practice as much as you’d like once you receive the link and complete your formal assessment later if you choose.

The deadline for completing the formal assessment is February 14th at 12PM EST. 

The 2025 application timeline will be as follows:

• December 20th, 2024 at 9AM EST-Applications open
• February 14th, 2025 at 12PM EST-Applications close
• April 1st-April 7th, 2025-Accepted applicants are notified of their acceptance and which session they are invited to attend

If you are accepted into the program and can no longer attend the session date you were accepted into, please email catalyst@uwaterloo.ca and we will do our best to accommodate switches, but we cannot guarantee a spot in another session will be available.

Here is an example of some of the activities run in the summer of 2024. STEM Activities will cover a broad range of topics to ensure your interest is peaked throughout the program. The Early Entrepreneurs stream will have a mix of STEM activities and business activities. In 2025 there will be a mix of new activities and repeat activities that were successful in prior years.

Here are some of the activities that were run in 2024:

In addition to these which are run by the Catalyst leaders, participants will sit in on workshops run by faculty and current students.