Nathan
Duarte
was
honoured
today
as
Waterloo
Engineering’s
top
co-op
student,
as
well
as
one
of
the
country’s
2018
Co-op
Students
of
the
Year
as
selected
by
Co-operative
Education
and
Work-Integrated
Learning
(CEWIL)
Canada.
The
third-year
biomedical
engineering
student
helped
develop
a
novel
bio-ink
that
can
be
used
to
decrease
the
amount
of
time
it
takes
to
3D-print
kidney
tissues
while
he
was
on
a
co-op
term
at
Harvard
University’s
Wyss
Institute
for
Biologically
Inspired
Engineering.
Nathan Duarte (back left) of Waterloo Engineering poses with the University's other top co-op students (clockwise from back middle) Stephanie Chan (science), James Schnarr (environment), Lauren Katherine McLennan (applied health sciences), Yutong Wu (mathematics) and Krista Duncan (arts).
During
his
work
term,
Duarte
had
the
opportunity
to
demo
his
work
for
Hansjörg
Wyss,
the
benefactor
of
the
Harvard
institute.
He
also
co-authored
an
article
about
his
research
that
was
recently
published
in
the
Proceedings
of
the
National
Academy
of
Sciences
of
the
United
States
of
America
(PNAS).
Duarte
and
co-op
students
of
the
year
from
Waterloo’s
other
five
faculties
were
recognized
at
a
ceremony
for
their
contributions
to
their
employers,
their
communities
and
the
development
of
experiential
education.
Emily
Lam,
also
a
biomedical
engineering
student,
received
an
honourable
mention
at
the
event,
which
was
held
in
the
William
M.
Tatham
Centre
for
Co-operative
Education
&
Career
Action.
“Across
every
discipline
and
level
of
experience
you
can
find
a
student
who
has
created
a
meaningful
impact
in
their
workplace,”
said
Ross
Johnston,
executive
director
of
co-operative
education
at
Waterloo.
“The
growing
number
of
employers
from
all
over
the
world
who
hire
Waterloo
students
demonstrates
the
reaches
of
our
reputation
for
excellence.”
Co-op Problem Awards
In
addition
to
the
six
top
co-op
winners,
four
students
–
including
two
from
Waterloo
Engineering
-
were
recognized
by
the
Problem
Lab
for
their
ability
to
find
and
analyze
important
problems
affecting
their
employers.
Launched
last
year,
the
lab is
the
only
university-based
facility
in
Canada
with
the
exclusive
mandate
to
find
and
understand
important
problems.
Cameron
Martin,
a
nanotechnology
engineering
student,
received
a
Co-op
Problem
Award
for
research
he
undertook
while
on
a
co-op
term
at
Dalhousie
University.
He
provided
a
detailed
problem
analysis
on
the
effects
of
climate
and
temperature
on
battery
capacity,
specifically
for
electric
vehicles.
Martin
captured
second
place
in
last
fall’s
Co-op
Problem
Award
competition.
Dan
Timonera,
a
computer
engineering
student,
was
honoured
for
his
work
as
an
IT
software
development
intern
at
Ashlin-BPG
Marketing
Inc.,
where
he
addressed
problems
of
business
integration
and
digital
communications
affecting
the
company.
Timonera was the first-place winner of the Co-op Problem Award for spring 2018.