Four incoming students at the University of Waterloo are backed by $30,000 scholarships through an Amazon program that was created to boost diversity in technology fields.
Hewan Amare, Jadiha Aruleswar, Ayaan Dada and Mairah Hashmi are among 10 first-year students across the country announced today as winners of Amazon Future Engineer Canada scholarships.
(l-r) Jadiha Aruleswar, Mairah Hashmi, Hewan Amare and Ayaan Daba have won $30,000 scholarships.
Waterloo has more winners than any other university in Canada in the second year of the annual program, which provides financial support to graduating high school students from underserved and underrepresented groups to help them cover their tuition over four years.
The ultimate goal of the program, which selects winners based on academic achievement and leadership in school, work and community activities, is to increase diversity in computer science, engineering and related technology fields.
Focusing on studies, not finances
“At Amazon, fostering diversity in the Canadian tech sector starts with ensuring that students from all backgrounds are able to discover computer science and pursue postsecondary education, focusing on their studies instead of financial concerns,” said Susan Ibach, the head of Amazon Future Engineer Canada, in a media release.
In addition to financial support, scholarship winners are offered paid summer internships at one of Amazon’s Canadian Tech Hubs.
Amare, who went to high school in Stratford, and Hashmi, of Toronto, will be studying computer engineering. Aruleswar, of Scarborough, and Dada, of Mississauga, are respectively enrolled in systems design engineering and computer science.