Six women recognized as 2021 University of Waterloo Co-op Students of the Year

By: Namish Modi (he/him)

From providing engaging social media coverage for non-profit organizations, to demonstrating initiative by developing an iOS app, to helping secure an important federal grant, Waterloo’s Co-op Students of the Year shined in 2021.

“To announce six outstanding women as our students of the year during the month when International Women’s Day falls is particularly special,” says associate provost of Co-operative and Experiential Education (CEE), Norah McRae. “In another challenging year, these bright women stood out, whether it be virtually or in-person. As a result, they will excel in the future workforce and in representing Waterloo.”

The following six women performed exceptionally on their work terms, and CEE was proud to announce them as Co-op Students of the Year during a March 21 virtual ceremony.

The ceremony also honoured Problem Lab winners:

“It goes without saying the quality of our co-op program is thanks to our fantastic students,” says Ross Johnston, executive director of Co-operative Education. “And the student voice is so important to us as we think about how to continue to improve our programming to provide meaningful work-integrated learning experiences that help students prepare for their future careers.”

Amid rising numbers of cases in a devastating second and third wave of COVID-19, a University of Waterloo Pharmacy student played a part in pandemic recovery.

Faculty of Science – Camille Huo (Pharmacy)

amazing to able to play a big role in the vaccine rollout during the pandemic. I felt like I was able to put my skills to use and really contribute to society, even while just on co-op.”

Following her work term, Huo continued to work part-time at Pharmasave. She got her injection certification at the end of May and later performed injections on patients throughout the year. This included COVID vaccines and flu shots.

For her outstanding performance, CEE recognizes Huo as the Co-op Student of the Year in the Faculty of Science.

Due to the nature of the role, Huo says it was a bit scary to be working in-person amid the second wave of COVID-19. However, she felt it was a nice change of pace as school classes were fully online.

In addition, Huo, the communications director for Waterloo’s Society of Pharmacy students, played a major part in working on a patient presentation and a handout on pain management in children following tonsillectomy surgeries. The handout was child-friendly and included pictures and a scale with faces to represent how much pain the child felt.

“Since children can’t really do the number scale, they can point to which face they feel like represents their level of pain,” Huo explains. “I do think it was well-received and a really good tool for the pharmacy that they can continue to use.”

Huo, who started her academic career pursuing Honours Science at Waterloo, was immensely proud of being named a Co-op Student of the Year.

"I feel like sometimes we’re a little low key and forgotten, especially since we’re on a satellite campus. To be able to represent Pharmacy students that also go through the co-op process, it feels very rewarding.”  

Faculty of Arts – Ingrid Kaffka (English Rhetoric, Media and Professional Communication)

Some of Kaffka’s other major responsibilities included managing Red Canari’s social media platforms. She showed initiative by using Canva to develop compelling social media graphics. The organization’s social media presence increased by 388 per cent in the first month of her term.

“I think one of the things that I did the most was just take initiative and really just became a leader in my role,” says Kaffka, adding that she enjoyed the level of autonomy given by her supervisor.

Kaffka developed case studies, brochures, website landing page copy and infographics for six different industries and ten different services. She was also responsible for conducting extensive research for the company to hire a third-party vendor to recreate the Red Canari’s website.

Kaffka is currently working as a policy analyst at Environment and Climate Change Canada. She encourages Arts students to try distinct roles and various kinds of positions— even those they don’t have much experience in. 

Faculty of Engineering – Sarah Odinotski (Nanotechnology Engineering)

"The goal of our research was to incorporate this conductive polymer inside because it would allow us to sense something going on inside your body in a minimally invasive manner. It does this without any sample pre or post processing, without expensive lab equipment or any long wait times," says Odinotski.

Odinotski says the most important skill she developed was "learning how to translate technical research into something communicative - into something that everyone can understand.” She also completed a literature review to find the best aptamer for cortisol measurement and develop a protocol for electrode functionalization. In addition to designing and performing experiments, Odinotski oversaw writing a manuscript to present the data and provide accessible flow to the reader.

Faculty of Environment – Emma Schuster (Environment, Resources and Sustainability)

“I started to realize everybody around me was very interested in making life easier for other people and making the world better for their communities.”

Schuster’s performance on a small team of six made her invaluable to the non-profit organization. Thanks to Schuster, Habitat for Humanity OGN now has significant data and a full year of social media posts that help raise awareness for the organization. Schuster helped develop an effective “overhaul” of their social media presence.

In addition to her social media responsibilities, Schuster did extensive research to help develop a Territorial Acknowledgement for OGN to use on their website, in meetings and at public events. OGN’s coverage area, which extends throughout Northern Ontario, has a high population of Indigenous people and many of the homes they build lie on treaty land.

Faculty of Health – Madison McBay (Health studies)

McBay has worked with the startup family health management organization, TAMVOES, during previous work terms and her academic terms. In Spring 2021, McBay became a senior president and co-founder of TAMVOES. Following graduation this year, she is joining the organization in a full-time capacity.

In Spring 2021, McBay managed the development of an iOS app for TAMVOES. The app, through increased accessibility and awareness of the platform, resulted in 200 per cent growth in global users. The iOS app follows the web application McBay worked on in 2019 as a co-op student. The app allows users to gain access to health information on the go.

Through the project, McBay developed a wide range of knowledge that helped her onboard new technical staff and shift the app development to be more in-house—which resulted in lower expenses.

McBay also participated in pitch competitions and meetings with funding organizations to help TAMVOES secure $275,000 in funding.

Faculty of Math – Laura Bumbulis (Combinatorics and Optimization)

The goal of the program is to investigate mechanisms of tumour growth and identify genetic and biologic markers that can guide precision medicine for a specifically aggressive type of cancer called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

"The people that I've had a chance to work with through my co-op terms, a lot of them are just really passionate about helping make the world a better place," says Bumbulis, “Even just reading the news over the last couple of years, it's made me realize that being able to help people is something that's going to be key for any job that I pursue in the future."

Bumbulis analyzed the usage of a tool the organization uses for sample tumour analysis. The tool was later removed from the pipeline, which helped save the organization critical time. She learned how to analyze cancer genome sequencing of tumor samples from patients with pancreatic cancer.

As part of her position, Bumbulis examined mutational signatures related to UV exposure, cigarette smoking and certain biological processes. Identifying these signatures helps to determine how cancer develops.

She also worked individually to revamp the algorithm that identified these mutational signatures and adapted it to new signatures that were recently discovered.