In 2014, the University of Waterloo, through the Department of Geography and Environmental Management and the School of Planning, joined the Esri Canada Centres of Excellence (ECCE) program. Through this program, Esri Canada aims to encourage innovation in GIS research and promote teaching excellence in spatial data management and analysis in higher education institutions across Canada.
To foster innovation and creativity, Esri Canada holds an annual ECCE App Challenge where students from participating ECCE institutions design and build apps using Esri technology and open data to address a problem related to a specific theme. Student teams from the University of Waterloo have performed well in this app challenge each year, winning the challenge in 2015 and 2019 along with finishing as runners-up in 2017, 2018, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
2024 1st Runner-up: Code Monkeys (Kevin Lu, Andrew Ding, and Franco Chen)
2023 1st Runner-up: Tree-o (Ben Woodward, Gabriel Diniz, and Paramvir Singh)
2019 Winner: SpectaculAR (Fraser King, Juan Carrillo, Jaydeep Mistry, and Manpreet Singh Chahal)
2017 1st Runner-up: Earth Link (Jaydeep Mistry, Stephanie Wen, and Carmen Kong)
2022 2nd Runner-up: G(oose)IS (Ben Woodward, Jason Sousa, and Justin Lo)
2018 1st Runner-up: Water3D (Juan Carrillo, Anam Rahman, Jaydeep Mistry, and Stephanie Wen)
2015 Winner: PredictION (Jonathan Van Dusen, Shanqi Zhang, and Majuratan Sadagopan)
Each ECCE institution can name up to 6 students as ECCE student associates. Student Associates gain access to technical expertise, resources, and software provided by Esri Canada, as well as free admission to Esri Canada user conferences. Student Associates are expected to contribute to the ECCE blog and participate in the annual ECCE App Challenge.
Our current ECCE student associates are:
- Sudiksha Desai, undergrad, Planning
- Weronika Fydrych, grad, Geography and Environmental Management
- Thomas Gillies, undergrad, Geography and Environmental Management
- Kevin Leung, undergrad, Planning
- Mohan Mahbaz, undergrad, Geomatics
- Matthew Woodward, undergrad, Geography and Environmental Management
Check out what our ECCE student associates have been working on by visiting the ECCE blog.
Interested in becoming an ECCE student associate?
Eligibility
- Currently enrolled in either the Department of Geography and Environmental Management or the School of Planning at the University of Waterloo
- 3rd or 4th year undergrads or grad students that are excelling in GIS courses, research, co-op, or summer work experience
- Experience with or a keen interest in learning to configure and develop GIS applications
Expectations
- Contribute to the ECCE Blog
- Participate in the annual ECCE App Challenge
Benefits
- ArcGIS Developer Premium Subscription (1 per Student Associate per year)
- Free registration at local Esri Canada User Conferences
- Access to free instructor-led training courses
- Free registration to the Esri Developer Summit in Palm Springs, CA
- Eligibility for Student of the Year award at each designated ECCE institution (award from Esri Canada)
- Access to Esri Canada Higher Education staff for developer and/or technical support
Contact
- Fill out this form to express interest in becoming an ECCE Student Associate, and/or reach out to Rob Feick or Scott MacFarlane with questions.