Three recent graduates of Waterloo Engineering have been named to a Canada-wide list of leading innovators from the class of 2025 by an online business and technology news outlet.
Shawn Benedict (BASc ’25, nanotechnology engineering), Melda Kiziltan (BASc ’25, mechatronics engineering) and Jennifer Tsai (BASc ’25, biomedical engineering) are among a dozen promising new graduates featured in a story by The Logic on its annual Top Prospects list.
“The Logic has scoured Canada’s top-ranked engineering and computer science universities to find some of the country’s most exciting innovators,” the story said.
“Now in its eighth year, the Top Prospects series aims to unearth the top graduates working on solving major challenges by building and scaling new technologies and ideas.”
Shawn Benedict
Benedict was cited for racking up academic awards, pitching products at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and contributing to artificial intelligence (AI) research during a co-op placement in Norway.
“Now he’s back at Waterloo for a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council-supported PhD in chemical engineering to help reimagine how we turn plastic waste and carbon dioxide into valuable products as part of the international Center for Innovative Recycling and Circular Economy Project.” the story said.
“His optimization and machine learning work will be used on everything from genetically modifying plastic-eating bacteria to streamlining processes at chemical plants.”
Melda Kiziltan
Kiziltan had wanted to study mechatronics engineering at Waterloo since she was in seventh grade and worked as a team lead for UW Orbital, a student team that won a national satellite design contest in 2023.
“She’s also racked up top prizes at Canadian and international hackathons and, alongside her capstone team, developed EV-TREx, an award-winning battery extinguisher system that uses deep learning and fibre optics to prevent EV fires from spreading,” The Logic wrote.
“Kiziltan recently joined Airbus subsidiary Navblue as a software developer, where she’ll work on products that improve airline safety and efficiency.”
Jennifer Tsai
Tsai was recognized as a Co-op Student of the Year, published research multiple times, gave talks at major conferences and contributed to work on memory, movement and emotion during co-op terms in Switzerland and the United States.
“Tsai is the co-founder of Nucleate Dojo, a non-profit that’s helped hundreds of undergrads break into biotech through training and grants for under-represented students,” the story said.
“Tsai will soon start a PhD in bioengineering at UCSF and UC Berkeley, focusing on patient-centred neuroscience research.”