Hi! I’m Katherine and I’m on my third co-op (as of F22). I’m in the Biomedical Engineering (BME) program and am part of the 2025 cohort. I'll be going on exchange to Singapore in the W23, so feel free to ask me about the process and my experience so far!
Waterloo Engineering in one word:
Rewarding
I chose Waterloo Engineering because:
I’m local to Waterloo, so being close to home was a big plus. The co-op program here was also a big deciding factor. Co-op is not only a way to finance your education, but it’s also a way to gain invaluable work experience in a variety of fields. Coming out of high school, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so being part of a co-op program was a sure-fire way to let me explore different areas of work.
The best thing about my program is:
I love the BME program at Waterloo covers a really wide range of different topics and fields. We cover things like programming, materials, mechanics, and mathematical modelling. You get to learn a bit about everything, and if you want to further explore a topic the profs, staff, and BME community are a great resource.
About my Co-op experience:
My first co-op was in data/ML at a company working on wearable technology. It was at a pretty small start-up, but there were lots of opportunities to grow and make an impact at the company. I ended up doing a machine learning project that term.
My second co-op was as a software dev. I really enjoyed my time there as the people were great and very welcoming. I started with small tickets and later worked on some larger features, really digging into the architecture of the product.
My current co-op will be at a hospital in Toronto working in research on a project that relates genomics to cancer treatments. It's a data/ML role again, but I hope to learn lots about what research is like and take a deeper dive into data/ML.
I wish I had known before I came:
How many software related jobs there are on Waterloo Works. If you’re going to learn a skill before coming to Waterloo, I highly suggest it be programming related. The majority of jobs I’ve seen so far are web dev, app dev, software dev, or analyst positions. Of course, if you filter through, there are other jobs available, but I can say with confidence that the majority are software related.
Outside the classroom, I’m involved with:
The women’s center, tech+, and swimming.
A fun project I’ve completed:
One of the projects I’ve completed is creating a weight scale that is easily accessible for paraplegics to use at home independently. This was for the first design course (BME 161) in my program. We went from the beginning to the end of the design process. It was definitely an interesting experience, and we faced a couple of challenges along the way.
One more thing about me:
I love solving Nonograms! If you don’t know what that is, I highly suggest looking it up and trying one :) They’re super fun and they get your brain thinking.