Celebrating co-op student achievements during work-integrated learning month
By: Emily Totzke (she/her)
Co-operative and Experiential Education honours Waterloo co-op students whose innovation and leadership shaped industries this year.
Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) proudly recognizes the extraordinary achievements of our co-op students during work-integrated learning (WIL) month.
For more than two decades, the Co-op Student of the Year Awards have celebrated students who go above and beyond during their work terms. As part of this year’s celebrations, we’re shining a spotlight on the remarkable students who earned honourable mentions in their faculties for their outstanding contributions.
Waterloo co-op students continue to demonstrate how passion and purpose can come together to create meaningful change in workplaces and communities. Their contributions speak to the power of learning through experience.
Ahead of the official awards ceremony, we invite you to learn more about the accomplishments of our Co-op Student of the Year Award honourable mentions and Velocity Co-op Problem Award recipients and join us to celebrate the meaningful difference they’ve made during their co-op experiences.
Meet the Co-op Student of the Year honourable mentions
Delaney Armstrong, Accounting and Financial Management, Faculty of Arts
Client relationship management intern, Investment Management Corporation of Ontario
During her co-op work term, Armstrong consistently operated far beyond a typical co-op student level, becoming a trusted contributor on executive-level work. She co-led a leadership project on a client relationship management strategy, which was presented to the company’s chief executive officer and used as benchmarks across the organization. After a team member took an unexpected leave, Armstrong maintained team operations by organizing workstreams and keeping major deliverables on track.
Nadeen Findakly, Software Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Engineering project management intern, Canadian Space Agency
Findakly made mission-shaping contributions to the High-altitude Aerosols, Water vapour and Clouds (HAWC) mission at the Canadian Space Agency. She conducted a major cost and risk analysis that identified 40 opportunities for savings, ranging from $2,000 to $285,000 per item. Her findings provided evidence that helped secure approval for the mission to advance beyond the pre-project phase. She also fixed a major dashboard issue by designing a system for real-time milestone updates, which became a dependable tool for project decisions. Findakly also led a creative initiative to design posters that now inspire the team and reinforce the mission’s identity.
Nathan Ha, Sustainability and Financial Management, Faculty of Environment
Sustainability intern, NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT
Ha played a central role in building the company’s first full greenhouse gas inventory. Ha’s role included analyzing emissions from hundreds of buildings across seven countries and designing a detailed model with categorized data. His work accurately identified the company’s emissions profile, and he presented his findings directly to the chief operating officer. An internal carbon pricing tool that Ha developed helped the company incorporate sustainability into long-term financial planning for more than 200 properties.
Sarah Bayrakdarian, Public Health, Faculty of Health
Clinical research assistant, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Bayrakdarian designed a 20-patient clinical study which showed that prone radiation therapy reduced Grade 3 dermatitis. She then presented these findings at the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) annual meeting. In her role, Bayrakdarian created the full protocol for the world’s first randomized controlled trial (RCT), which tested Betamethasone in the prone position. She also led analysis for the largest Mepitel film RCT with more than 300 patients. Bayrackdarian’s manuscript, in which she is first- author, is currently under review.
Cindy Li, Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics
Junior AI meteorologist assistant, Spire Global Subsidary
Li built a company-wide weather dashboard from scratch that revealed a cold temperature error in a key forecast model. The dashboard led to a 35 per cent accuracy improvement for one of Spire’s largest energy clients. Li’s work proved that AI could produce similar results to complex physics-based weather models with only about five per cent error rate. By automating the process, Spire cut model testing time by 80 per cent. Li’s dashboard became a key showcase tool. It helped Spire prove how it could outperform the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, the world’s leading public weather model.
Brianna Thomas, Science and Business, Faculty of Science
Laboratory research assistant, Ceragen
Thomas developed one of the most accurate industry tests for Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus, a virus that can cause up to 70 per cent crop loss. She created the company’s first RNA protocols, which cut testing costs by 80 per cent. Thomas improved DNA extraction workflows to boost efficiency by 44 per cent and reduce material costs by 83 per cent, while completing more than 250 DNA and 100 RNA extractions. Thomas also led large-scale plant trials, which included preparing a 1.6-acre greenhouse for a 15,000mplant tomato trial that yielded 100,000 lbs of tomatoes. She also supported cucumber trials that enabled a five per cent yield-boosting inoculant, which is now being patented.
Meet the Velocity Co-op Problem award recipients
Students earn the Velocity Co-op Problem award by providing the best analysis of an important problem relevant to a co-op employer or their industry.
Nathan Li, Software Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Full-stack developer, BDO Canada
Li explored the tension between AI-driven productivity gains and the firm’s traditional hourly billing model. He conducted more than 13 hours of interviews with consultants, billing administrators and project managers. While BDO’s Innovation and Change office supported Li’s work, he also contributed to the developer team. Through his work term experience, Li gained a deeper understanding of the firm’s strategy and operations.
Rizwan Hamidi, Systems Design Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
System design engineering intern, NVIDIA
During his work term at Nvidia, Hamidi developed a solution to a critical inefficiency in the development cycle of next-generation AI superchips. He built a three-board emulation system that tested key communication paths long before the actual central and graphics processing chips arrived. This innovation removed months of downtime and sped up preparation for NVIDIA’s upcoming high-performance computing platforms.
We will announce the 2025 Co-op Student of the Year and celebrate the Velocity Co-op Problem award winners at the ceremony on March 25, 2026. This event highlights the dedication, innovation and resilience of students who have made a lasting impact during their work terms. Join us to recognize and honour the hard work and contributions of these outstanding students as they continue to excel in their fields.