March 30, 2021
Meet Ugo Landry-Tolzszcuk, CFO of Aya Gold & Silver!
What was your favourite co-op role?
I really liked all my co-ops because they were so varied. From ATI to working for JSI Telecom who built products for legal intercepts (wiretaps for law enforcement), to building combat simulation software for the Canadian armed forces, and finally being at Research in Motion (now Blackberry) when the Apple iPhone came out. I love gaming so for sure my time at AMD was awesome. I had to convince myself to try other opportunities because I would have stayed at AMD for all my co-ops!
How did you pick your career path?
I didn’t really. I graduated in 2009 which was right in the middle of the “great recession” so at that time you took what you could get. I ended up at a company call Distech Controls which builds smart controllers for building management. From there I had an opportunity to head a renewable power division of a mining company which is responsible for the largest solar plant in west Africa at the time, a 26MW plant. While working I completed my CFA and moved up in the organization, got an opportunity to head the operations of a junior mining company in the graphite space and so I jumped on the occasion. Now I am the CFO of a silver company with operations in Morocco. I have been very lucky to have great bosses who have given me the opportunity to take initiative and push my career.
How did you get involved on campus?
For the first 2.5 years of my time at Waterloo I was part the rugby team which took up a large part of my time. In the later part of my time at Waterloo I did more activities that were organized by the engineering social club and played various intramural sports (hockey, softball, dodgeball) with a group of friends.
What advice would you give your first-year self?
1) Meet people. Not just in your class, even if it is a bit weird at first, don’t stay in your dorm room or apartment or go back home every weekend. School is hard and it’s much more fun when you have friends and people to work with. 2) Work hard. It gets easier after the second year, at least it did for me, but until then, work hard. If you must, to your TAs and put in extra hours.