Three Waterloo Engineering students have earned a national fellowship that supports global leadership and entrepreneurship.
Mechatronics Engineering student Tobias Grether-Murray, Electrical Engineering student Jordan Leis and Systems Design Engineering student Taira Mehta have been named 2026 Cansbridge Fellows, a competitive program that provides hands-on international experience through a self-organized internship in Asia. Grether-Murray and Leis are scheduled for winter 2027 placements, and Mehta for summer 2027.
Now in its fourteenth year, the Cansbridge Fellowship selects just 15 students from across Canada annually. Fellows receive a $10,000 scholarship for their internship, attend a bootcamp and conference in San Francisco and join a lifelong network of mentors and alumni.
The program is run entirely by alumni and funded by sponsors, with past fellows including founders of Makeship, Mosaic Manufacturing, Xatoms and Greenlite AI, as well as Thiel Fellows, Rhodes Scholars and Y Combinator founders.
On being selected, Grether-Murray and Leis shared what the honour means to them.
"It's an honour to be selected for an award that celebrates Canadian excellence and promotes Canadian values. What makes Cansbridge special is the way it continues to bring together alumni across generations, all of whom have had eye-opening and enriching experiences in Asia and have gone on to lead with courage and a commitment to service. Cansbridge is not just an award. It is a strong community that is serious about the practice of giving back and building up the next generation of Canadian leaders. I feel incredibly lucky to be a part of it." — Tobias Grether-Murray
"Being a Cansbridge Fellow means being part of something bigger: a movement of young, talented, and hungry changemakers eager to make their mark on the world and leave it kinder, brighter, and better than they found it. I truly believe that the people around you influence you more than anything else in life. I could not ask to be surrounded by a better group of people, and I know they will push me to become better than I could have ever imagined. I am nothing short of honoured to join the kindest community on Earth." — Jordan Leis