Honouring exceptional co-op students during work-integrated learning month

By: Emily Totzke (she/her) 

Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE) is celebrating 20 years of the Co-op Student of the Year awards. 

During the month of March, CEE celebrates work-integrated learning (WIL) month by highlighting the positive impact our students have made through co-operative education (co-op) and WIL programs. 

The Co-op Student of the Year awards recognize co-op students in each faculty who have made a significant impact during their work term. Ahead of the awards ceremony, we are celebrating the achievements of nominees who received honourable mentions for their work term.  

Meet the honourable mentions

Nicholas Aboagye 

Aboagye made substantial impacts as a communications intern at the Office of the Prime Minister. He developed engagement strategies that leveraged current cultural events, leading to significant positive media coverage for the prime minister. As a result of that hard work, Aboagye’s co-op supervisor tasked him with executing a local press tour, where he provided critical support to the entire team.  

Victoria Da Rosa (she/her) 

Da Rosa demonstrated exceptional work at Sun Life as an associate software engineer. She wrote code and managed all aspects of software development for several projects, which included developing a proof-of-concept for a tool that automatically collects the performance and accessibility metrics on websites. Da Rosa also took the initiative to propose continuous improvement ideas, saving the company more than $1.5 million per year.  

Francesca Girmenia (she/her) 

As a tiny home project co-ordinator, Girmenia excelled in the diverse responsibilities she had at Habitat for Humanity, Halton, Mississauga, Dufferin division. Girmenia exhibited dedication, efficiency and versatility in areas such as project co-ordination, marketing, event planning and construction. She worked diligently to secure a 20 per cent discount on a critical product, leading to significant cost savings and improved energy performance of the tiny homes.  

Sloan Stark (she/her) 

Stark demonstrated excellent independence, time management and organizational skills as a student design assistant at the 3F Research Group at Dalhousie University. In her role, she designed, edited and proofed online learning modules. Stark collaborated with external designers to gather and implement feedback to support technological components of the project. As a result of her accomplishments, Stark has been invited to two speaking engagements and is submitting an abstract for an upcoming conference.  

Michael Alexander 

Alexander, a research assistant at SNOLAB, worked on monitoring the lab environment, which was located two kilometers underground, and finding long-term solutions for seismic activity. Alexander took the initiative to take on additional research work that was outside of his assigned responsibilities. His research led to the opportunity to launch a new project that involved the statistical analysis of neuron particles. 

Ashlyn DeBoer (she/her) 

As a field technician at the Waterloo Wetland Lab at the University of Waterloo, DeBoer supported data collection on butterfly and plant abundance and diversity. She demonstrated initiative and innovation by developing a more cost-effective and efficient survey method, detecting butterfly-plant interactions almost 100 times the rate of their standard method. DeBoer’s dedication and positivity enhanced relationships with external collaborators, making her a valued team member. 

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. CEE recognizes four recipients. 

Paige Kobzar 

Kobzar developed a system to help improve the verification process of surgical trays for technicians at Grand River Hospital using radio frequency identification (RFID). She also presented a research paper at the Canadian Undergraduate Conference on AI about a predictive wildfire monitoring system that integrates weather patterns and burn history data. 

Ashita Saxena 

Saxena identified gaps in Microsoft’s onboarding structure and created the first onboarding program for the Chief of Staff’s organization. Through her work, Saxena increased employee satisfaction and reduced onboarding time by 30 per cent. Saxena was also recognized with the “How Might We” award from the chief of staff at Microsoft Canada for exemplifying a problem-solving mindset and fostering collaboration across nationwide initiatives.  

Eric Aleong 

Aleong found a critical inefficiency in Dynapac’s engineering process that affected multiple workflows and reduced efficiency. Aleong created a new product configuration process with a demo to enhance those workflows and improve internal efficiency.  

Uzair Rana 

Rana worked for Liberty Tax, whose main challenge is managing the high volume of tax audits and rush return filings during peak tax season. This challenge leads to reduced efficiency, increased errors and potential non-compliance with CRA regulations.  

We will announce the 2024 Co-op Student of the Year and celebrate the Velocity Co-op Problem award winners at the ceremony on March 25, 2025. This event highlights the dedication, innovation, and resilience of students who have made a lasting impact during their work terms. Join us in recognizing and honoring the hard work and contributions of these outstanding students as they continue to excel in their fields.