Alumni Class Notes 2024
Wondering what your classmates have been up to? Find out who's been promoted, launched a new project, published a book or started a family. Catch up now or submit an update of your own for the next issue of Class Notes.
1960s
1965 | CLASS REUNION - 60-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
1970s
1970 | CLASS REUNION - 55-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
Veikko Kuronen (Elect ’70) designed the Engineering Society logo in 1966-1967 when he was a student.
Connect with Veikko.
Email: kuronen@golden.net
1971
Hans Zander (Civil ’71) fully retired in March 2024. Hans says “During two semi-retirement years prior, I was hired as mentor for those following in my footsteps. U of W co-op experiences provided the foundation for a wonderful, exciting and successful career.”
Connect with Hans:.
Email: winstall@rogers.com
1974
Santosh Gupta (Civil ’74) has been volunteering for Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO) since 2000. He served on the Board of Governors of PEO for 11 years and now volunteers on several committees. Currently, he is the vice-chair of the Scarborough Chapter of PEO. Santosh helps the newly arrived foreign trained engineers to settle down in their profession.
Connect with Santosh.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: santoshgupta.gupta@gmail.com
1975 | CLASS REUNION - 50-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
Robert Allen (Mech ’75) says “It’s hard to retire when you’re having fun.” So he identified 78 stimulating kisses in a kissing card game that he eventually coded as the application: KissPlay available on the Apple Store.
Connect with Robert.
Email: kissplay@icloud.com
Ron Mitchell (Civil ’75) says “Calling all Glory Seekers! The civil engineering class of 1975 is gathering for our 50th next year and we have a planning committee working on activities from Parry Sound to Toronto Blue Jays culminating in Waterloo early next summer. Please contact ron@roadraileng.com for more information and get on to our growing list of attendees.”
Connect with Ron.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: roadrailengineering@gmail.com
1980s
1980 | CLASS REUNION - 45-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
Perry Wildfong (Mech ’80) retired in January 2023 after 43 years of sales and consulting in payment systems to the major banks and digitizing the cheque processing industry. He is now focused on travel, golf and barbershop singing.
Connect with Perry.
Email: perryawildfong@gmail.com
1984
Bernie Warren (MSci ’84) reports “It has been 40 years and I am now retired. I’m living the good life in Qualicum Beach on Vancouver Island. Now that I’m retired, I have lots of time and would love to connect. Got a new motorcycle so ready to go anywhere! I remember fondly those days sitting in management science classes and the Grad Club!”
Connect with Bernie.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: Bernie.Warren@gmail.com
1985 | CLASS REUNION - 40-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
1988
Yuri Quintana (Elect ’88, SD ’90 & ’95) launched the DCI Network, uniting patients, hospitals, companies, and non-profits to develop innovative technology solutions addressing complex healthcare challenges through multistakeholder collaboration, strategic roadmaps, and scalable implementations. Check it out at https://www.dcinetwork.org/
Connect with Yuri.
Email: yuriquintana@yahoo.com
1989
Carl Spiess (SD ’89) says “Still very happily married to Jennifer Spiess (Mech ’91). 3 great kids. Retired after 30 years of advising clients at ScotiaMcLeod. Now following my wind sport passion by teaching windsurfing and wing foiling - www.launchpadwindsurfacademy.ca.”
Connect with Carl.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: cdnwindsurfguy@gmail.com
Bruce Taylor (Chem ’89) reports: “I’m currently filming a short film celebrating 20 years of the Safe Water Social Venture (SWSV) Project, founded by Enviro-Stewards. SWSV trains and equips teams to construct residential biosand filters (slow sand filters) with locally available materials. Each $100 filter saves each family about $1,000 in medical expenses (over the course of the purifier's 25 year life). Film will premier November 21, 2024 at the Apollo Theatre in Kitchener. Sign up to attend in person or via livestream at https://safewatersocialventures.com/
Connect with Bruce.
Email: btaylor@enviro-stewards.com
1990s
1990 | CLASS REUNION - 35-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
1991
Michael Grasley (SD ’91) enjoyed nine months of retirement but it didn't last. Mike is now at Farm Girl Cereals as their COO, busy shepherding the company through a 10x increase in volumes.
Connect with Michael.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: mkgrasley@gmail.com
Michael Oldham (Civil ’91), as of January 1, 2024, is vice-president of Land Development & Municipal Engineering Ontario at WSP.
Connect with Michael.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: Michael.Oldham@wsp.com
1993
Anant Nambiar (SD ’93) was recently elected to the Town of Mamaroneck Council, in New York State. He will be 1 of 5 elected officials who will govern the Towns of Larchmont and Mamaroneck in Westchester County, NY. He retired from corporate life in 2021 and spends his time playing lots of Pickleball and advising FinTechs on a part-time basis. His eldest son, Kumar, retired in Oct 2023 after 5 years in the Oakland A’s minor league system and now works for the Baltimore Orioles in the front office. His second son, Sachin, works at Nomura in equity derivatives, and daughter, Simran, works at Deloitte Consulting, both in Manhattan. Anant recently caught up with Jasbir Singh Manak and Marty White in Toronto. He hopes to meet more U of W alumni soon, whether in New York or Toronto.
1994
Marcelo Sampaio de Alencar (Elect ’94) is a visiting professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Brazil. He is founder and President of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Communications (Iecom), published over 550 engineering and scientific papers and 31 books. He also wrote chapters for 14 books. Marcelo is an IEEE Life Senior Member and a laureate of the prestigious 2014 Attilio Giarola Medal, of the Brazilian Microwave and Optoelectronics Society (SBMO). He just published the book Set, Measure, and Probability Theory (River Publishers, Delft, The Netherlands).
Connect with Marcelo.
Social: http://lattes.cnpq.br/0946722048975388
Email: sampaio.alencar@gmail.com
Amy Charette nee Alfred (Mech ’94) is a Poirier Group Program Leader continuing her focus on supply chain management consulting in Toronto. She enjoys volunteering with WiE, ASCM Toronto Chapter, and Daily Bread. She’s enjoying teaching supply chain management and outdoor time too.
Connect with Amy.
Social: LinkedIn
1995 | CLASS REUNION - 30-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
2000s
2000 | CLASS REUNION - 25-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
Jeremy Carkner (Civil ’00) has recently joined Arup on secondment to the DAA (Dublin Airport). He’s very excited to help this team drive forward sustainability and decarbonisation in the months and years ahead.
Connect with Jeremy.
Email: Jeremy.carkner.cw@daa.ie
2005 | CLASS REUNION - 20-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
2006
David Butler (MBET ’06) reports: “In 2023 I started my law firm. As a dual licenced attorney, my goal is to protect the rights of individuals and businesses, advocating for fairness, and making a positive difference in people's lives.”
Connect with David.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: dbutler@davidbutlerlaw.com
2008
Amit Jethani (Mtron ’08) is now a co-founder at Mantle, pioneering AI-driven equity management for startups. The company launched in 2022 and raised over $11M. Amit says “Would love to chat with other founders in the space!”
Connect with Amit.
Email: amit@withmantle.com
Kamil Szynkarczuk (Comp ’08) says “I’m thrilled to announce the launch of MapleCap Partners in Switzerland, a hedge fund spinout from LMR Partners, starting with $700 million. We focus on trading global liquid inflation-linked markets. Excited for this new journey!”
Connect with Kamil.
Social: LinkedIn
2009
Jacky Chen (Civil ’09) joined the TTC in January 2023 and became a senior civil engineer.
Connect with Jacky.
Email: jacky.chen@ttc.ca
2010s
2010 | CLASS REUNION -15-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
Jonathan Loh (Mtron ’10) reports: “I launched Avensi Wave Coffee Sensory Cups with fellow UW grads Vance and Vince Lee. It’s our 3rd successful Kickstarter project under @icosabrewhouse and is the most funded coffee cup in crowdfunding history with over $330k raised.”
Connect with Jonathan.
Social: Instagram
Email: johnny@icosabrewhouse.com
2013
Mostafa Elgamal (Elect ’13) recently has been promoted to director, Data Science at Sobeys.
2014
Vimal Intwala (Mech ’14) is working as vice president at the management consulting firm AlixPartners as a leader in supply chain and procurement transformation. His contributions in digital enablement have been recognized by the firm with back-to-back 'Achievement in Excellence' awards. He specializes in delivering cloud supply chain solutions.
Connect with Vimal.
Email: vintwala.mba2022@ivey.ca
Rehana Rajwani (Mgmt ’14) is a director in Bank of Montreal's Agile COE and an Organizational Physics thought leader. She delivers keynotes as well as training in the areas of L&D, leadership, engineering management and agile methodologies. Learn more at knowledgebridges.ca.
Connect with Rehana.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: knowledgebridgesinfo@gmail.com
2015 | CLASS REUNION - 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
2016
Jiang Xu (Chem ‘16) is the senior scientist and group leader at Virogin Biotech.
Connect with Jiang.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: xujiangfrank@gmail.com
2017
Lucas Wang (SWE ’17) is product designer at Apple, and for the last year, he worked on the cross-product experience design for some cool features on the new Apple Vision Pro!
Connect with Lucas.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: me@lucas.wang
2018
Michelle Liu (Civil ’18, ’20) got called to the Ontario bar (fancy phrase for "licensed in law") in June 2024 and hopes to run a part-time law practice that advocates for equity-seeking persons who experience discrimination in engineering spaces.
Connect with Michelle.
Email: michelle.liu@uottawa.ca
2019
Kristoff Malejczuk (Nano ’19) left his five-year Apple engineering career on account of the pull to God.
Connect with Kristoff.
Social: Twitter
Email: kamalejc@uwaterloo.ca
2020s
2020 | CLASS REUNION - 5-YEAR ANNIVERSARY JUNE 7, 2025
2021
Aileen Agada (Enviro ’21) founded BeBlended, an online marketplace that connects clients with freelance hairstylists who know how to work on afro-curly hair textures. To date, Aileen has raised over $100K+ in funding for BeBlended.
Connect with Aileen.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: aileen@beblended.ca
Mohammad Hossein Basiri (Elect ’21), a proud alumnus of the University of Waterloo, swiftly launched his career with Magna International Inc. where he emerged as a leading figure in the Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) domain. His contributions have been instrumental in the development of cutting-edge ADAS technologies, driving innovation in the autonomous driving era. Mohammad is renowned for his leadership and problem-solving skills, consistently tackling the daily challenges that arise in this dynamic field.
Connect with Mohammad.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: mh.basiri@uwaterloo.ca
Cibin Jacob (Mech ’21) says “I just completed 1 year working with De Havilland aircraft of Canada as a liaison engineer. Prior to that, I worked with Shimco North America Inc. as an engineering and sales manager where I was fortunate to head the R&D project with the University of Waterloo. I am a part-time faculty of quality engineering and manufacturing at Conestoga College as well. Please feel free to connect!”
Connect with Cibin:
Social: LinkedIn
Email: cibinjacob03@gmail.com
2022
Jordan Lin (Mech ’22) was recently named a Top 30 Under 30 Sustainability Leader in Canada by Corporate Knights (2023). Jordan has empowered over 900 youth on sustainability, and reduces emissions from infrastructure and buildings through decarbonization plans as a consultant at Arup.
Connect with Jordan.
Social: LinkedIn
Email: zjordanlin@gmail.com
2023
Fatemeh Ahmadloo (Elect ’23) says “I was hoping to join a passionate team of engineers and I am right there! I have been working for eGrid team at Hatch for over a year.”
Connect with Fatemeh.
Email: ahmadloof71@gmail.com
IN MEMORIAM
The Faculty of Engineering expresses deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the following graduates who have passed away:
- Peter Adamo (Mech ’64)
- Mervin Andrews (Civil ’72)
- Joseph Anello (Civil ’82)
- Vincent Antonetti (Mech ’83)
- Bob Balanyk (Elect ’90)
- Taymoore Balbaa (Arch ’04)
- Jay Beattie (Elect ’75)
- Arnold Betz (MSci ’69)
- Phillip Blackmore (Chem ’72, ‘74)
- Ross Blair ((MSci ’75)
- Douglas Butzer (Mech ’70
- Shawn Carrigan (Chem ’97)
- Alex Choi (Comp ’99)
- Richard Denham (Civil ’74)
- Spencer Dew (Civil ’76)
- John Endrenyi (Elect ’65)
- Brian Ennis (Civil ’70)
- Melville Feraday (Mech ’70)
- Edward Filipowich (Civil ’74)
- Rishi Gautam (Mech ’98)
- Garry Gregory (Chem ’64, ’65, ‘69)
- David Hanneson (Elect ’70)
- Tom Hawkins (Civil ’80)
- Roger Hicks (Elect ’70)
- Edward Hinchley (Elect ’63)
- Donald Holland (MSci ’69)
- Bill Holmes (Mech ’69)
- Robert Ireland (Mech ’63)
- Jan Jofriet (Civil ’69, ’72)
- Daniel Lafreniere (Elect ’87)
- John Lally (EngPHY ’62)
- Patrick Lee (Civil ’69)
- Chang Lee (MSci ’81)
- Michael Leslie (Civil ’82)
- Eric Lister (Mech ’69)
- Alexander Livermore (Elect ’63)
- Woldemar Madisso (MSci ’79)
- William McCowan (Elect ’64)
- Chris McCrae (Chem ’96)
- Vincent McLeod (EngPhy ’64)
- David McNeil (MSci ’71, ’75)
- Alex Meutemedian (Mech ’74)
- Dennis Millan (Mech ’73)
- Roger Miller (Mech ’64)
- Tim Missell (Chem ’87)
- Bruce Montgomery (MSci ’75)
- Rob Murakami (Mech ’76)
- Eleanor Nagai (SD ’84)
- Sutharseehan Navajeevayokan (Comp ’23)
- William Nediger (MSci ’79)
- Roger Nordrum (Mech ’70)
- Hal North (SD ’74, Civil ‘76)
- John O'Reilly (Civil ’74)
- John Pahapill (MSci ’79)
- Doug Parsonage (MSci ’75)
- Vijai Pasricha (MSci & Systems Engineering ’70)
- Brian Paul (Mech ’76)
- Jon Pharoah (Mech ’94)
- James Pitcher (Elect ’69)
- Bob Pula (Elect ’72)
- Joe Recchia (Chem ’68, Mgmt & SD ’71)
- Gerald Reicheneder (Elect ’64)
- Bob Robbins (Civil ’70)
- John Robertson (Civil ’65)
- Joseph Rogers (SD ’79)
- John Root (Elect ’63)
- Bob Schellenberg (Elect ’63, Math ’64)
- Norbert Schmidtke (Civil ’74)
- Klaus Schmidtke (Civil ’78, ’80, ’85)
- Paul Siemens (Civil ’62)
- Bob Simmie (Chem ’72)
- Bateshwar Sinha (Elect ’68, ’74)
- Stephen So (Eomp ’89)
- Gerald Specken (Civil ’69)
- Hank Stassen (Mech ’71)
- Roy Steinberg (Elect ’84)
- George Stewart (MSci ’76)
- Hugh Struthers (Civil ’74)
- Richard Sydor (Geo ’90, Earth Sciences ’92)
- Jerry Szymanowski (Elect ’73)
- Johannes Treffers (Elect ’65)
- George Trohatos (Elect ’73)
- Roman Ulfig (Mech ’72)
- David Weaver (Civil ’69)
- Christian Wehrfritz (Elect ’70)
- Scott Wheeler (Chem ’87)
- Larry White (Elect ’65, ’66)
- Bill Wilson (Civil ’72)
- Tina Wu (Biomed ’19)
- Alan Young (Mech ’63)