The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo is proud to welcome three of this year’s ten Schulich Leader Scholars, exceptional high school graduates recognized for their academic excellence in STEM fields.
Awarded annually to 100 high school graduates across Canada, these scholarships recognize exceptional individuals who demonstrate strong entrepreneurial potential in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Each Schulich Leader receives between $100,000 and $120,000, empowering them to pursue their academic goals with financial peace of mind.
Since 2012, nearly 90 Schulich Leaders have chosen Waterloo as the launchpad for their academic and professional journeys.
“I am pleased to welcome this year’s cohort of Schulich Leader Scholars to the University of Waterloo,” says president and vice-chancellor Dr. Vivek Goel. “These students are among the brightest young minds in STEM, and I look forward to seeing the breakthroughs, dedication and shared success they will contribute to our community and beyond.”
Meet the remarkable student scholars joining the Department this September.
Kaibo Huang | Software Engineering
Kaibo Huang is a big sports fan, an avid math contest writer, a competitive programmer and former co-president of the Computer Science Club and vice-president of the Physics Club in high school.
In May 2025, he joined Electrium Mobility — a Waterloo design team — where he has been helping build Electriumap, an app that helps users locate nearby outlets and stay connected to green energy. “I’ve really enjoyed collaborating with upper-year Waterloo students over the summer, and I look forward to taking on a larger leadership role within the team,” he says.
At Waterloo, Kaibo hopes to build on the skills he developed in high school and push beyond his comfort zone. “I enjoy uncertainty, taking unconventional paths and learning from as many people as I can” he says. He chose to pursue a Software Engineering degree because of its broad curriculum covering math, physics, computer science and hardware, with hopes of one day working with machine learning and data.
Azka Siddiqui | Computer Engineering
After taking part in hackathons and leading computer science initiatives in her community, Azka Siddiqui realized that a lifelong career in creating things through the merger of hardware and software is where she’d best fit.
While completing an internship with Nokia last summer, Siddiqui developed solutions on the Fault Management team including refining an advanced filter tool that displayed data from more than 10,000 alarms. She has also contributed to university research developing smart-grid anomaly detection algorithms using federated learning, receiving the NCWIT Aspirations in Computing award for her work.
At Waterloo, Siddiqui looks forward to being part of Waterloo’s startup and innovation ecosystem. “Being able to live on campus because of this scholarship puts me in a much better place to learn, collaborate and build,” she says.
Long-term, she hopes to launch a health-tech startup harnessing computer vision to design smart diagnostic devices, combining her technical expertise with her drive to create technology for social good.
Cherry Wang | Computer Engineering
Growing up, Cherry Wang leaned into her creativity through drawing, crafting and building homemade gadgets. This meant engineering and computer science were far removed from her initial career aspiration in animation.
Things changed when she took her first computer science class in Grade 10. “Learning to code, even with simple programs like Scratch, opened up a new world for me,” she says. “That’s when I discovered computer engineering — a perfect blend of hands-on building and problem-solving with code — and I knew it was the path I wanted to follow.”
Despite learning to code later than her peers, Wang’s passion for her new interest led her to become a leader in the field. She also facilitated workshops and organized hackathons that attracted more than 100 participants.
Determined to meaningfully contribute to technological innovation for social good, Wang hopes to one day work at Google or a similar tech giant. “My dream is to create tools that make tech more accessible or solve real problems in overlooked communities.”
For more information on the Schulich Leader Scholarships and the full list of 2025 recipients, visit the University of Waterloo News.