Elizabeth Celentano’s advice to a new engineering student is the same that she’s lived by during the past five years: work hard, play hard.
At convocation on June 14, Celentano will graduate with distinction in chemical engineering and she'll take with her hundreds of hours of volunteer experience achieved through being a member of numerous groups, including the Engineering Society and the Engineering Orientation and Ambassador teams.
Elizabeth Celentano at May Open House 2013
“For personal reasons, I’ve always felt volunteering is important,” says Celentano, pictured above left. “Often the effort you put in is incredibly small compared to the importance and value that comes out of it.”
Celentano has been recognized for her leadership skills with the Suncor Emerging Leaders Award in Engineering in both 2009 and 2010 and the Sandford Fleming Foundation Memorial Leadership Award in 2012.
Amelia Burton, engineering’s marketing & undergraduate recruitment specialist, says Celentano was instrumental in helping make the Engineering Ambassador program both a reality and a success.
“Her passion for helping prospective students find the right fit for university has made a difference in many students' lives and has inspired other engineers to join the program,” explains Burton.
From mentoring first-year students to raising money and running various charity events and even singing with the Engineering Jazz Band, Celentano says each volunteer activity has offered her a little something different from learning more about herself to gaining transferable skills she used in the workforce.
Bottom line impact
She used those transferable skills during a third-year co-op term spent in the Swiffer Wet/WetJet department at Procter & Gamble in Brockville, ON with a Waterloo chemical engineering alumna as her supervisor and team members she describes as incredible.
Not only did the experience impact Celentano, it also made an impact to the company’s bottom line. During her work term she created a materials’ calculation tool for the department that found $2.3 million in annual material losses – only 20 per cent of which had known causes.
Celentano says it’s important to find balance while in university.
“If you like sports, get involved in intramurals or a recreational league in Waterloo region,” she says. ”If you like arts, join a band or a theatre group. Find something other than school that gives you enjoyment to keep you sane.”
Now three weeks into her full-time position as a process engineer with Kimberley-Clark in Huntsville, ON, Celentano plans to stay connected to the Faculty through friends who are still students and a few other ways.
“I jokingly told the Engineering Ambassador team that I wanted to be the first “alumni” ambassador and make an appearance at an open house,” she laughs. “In the long term, I’ll get in contact with EngSoc and the alumni offices to figure out where the right fit is for me to stay involved.”