Meet our 2023 finalists

Name and program: Chi-en (Amy) Tai (she/her), MASc student, Systems Design Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

GRADflix video title: Improved treatment of breast cancer (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Alexander Wong

Biography: Amy Tai is a Master of Applied Science student in the Vision and Image Processing Lab at the University of Waterloo. Her research interests include cancer diagnosis and prognosis, medical imaging, and computer vision. Previously, she completed her Bachelor of Applied Science in Management Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Outside of research, she enjoys hiking, travelling, rock climbing, playing squash, and swimming.

Name and program: Chuan Tian (Ben) Zhang (he/him), MASc student, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

GRADflix video title: Sensor malfunction detection (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Chris Nielsen, and Dr. Derek Rayside

Biography: Ben is currently a Master of Applied Science student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, studying systems and control with Profs. Chris Nielsen and Derek Rayside. Ben also did his undergrad in Computer Science also at UWaterloo. During Ben’s time at the university, he had the opportunity to participate in various autonomous vehicle student competitions, namely the SAE Autodrive challenge, as a part of WATonomous and Indy Autonomous Challenge, as a part of Waterloo Autonomous Racing (later combined with MIT-PITT-RW). Outside his academic life, Ben likes to go skating and hiking. 

Name and program: Heather Eustace (she/her/they/them), MA student, English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts

GRADflix video title: Older adults on YouTube (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Heather Love, and Dr. Jesse Hoey

Biography: Heather Eustace is an Master of Arts student in experimental digital media who completed her Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art at Emily Carr. Her research includes the effects of technological marginalization on social engagement, particularly in reference to older adults, and creative ways to overcome this marginalization, (such as therapeutic reminisce, storytelling, and facilitation of social media engagement).  Ongoing work focuses on this research and how it could inform automated machine-learning methods.

Name and program: Karen Hock (she/her), PhD candidate, School of Public Health Sciences,  Faculty of Health

GRADflix video title: Mission: PhD (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. David Hammond

Biography: Karen Hock is a PhD candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences. She previously completed a coursework Master of Science in Human Health & Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph. Her research interests lie in the role of food policies on dietary intake patterns. Outside of school, she enjoys swimming, reading, hiking through nature trails, and baking (and eating) cookies.

Name and program: Keshini Madara Marasinghe (she/her), PhD candidate, School of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Health

GRADflix video title: Assistive devices for older adults and their informal caregivers (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Mark Oremus, and Dr. Ashok Chaurasia

Biography: Madara is a PhD candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. She holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Bachelor of Science in Health Studies and Gerontology from the University of Waterloo. While completing her Master's degree, she interned at the World Health Organization, Centre for Health Development in Japan, where she trained with the Innovation for Healthy Aging team, which sparked her interest in assistive technologies. In her current research, she is exploring the role of assistive devices in the well-being of community-dwelling older adults and their informal caregivers in Canada.

Name and program: Kiran Dhuga (she/her), MSc student, School of Public Health Sciences, Faculty of Health

GRADflix video title: Parental depressive symptoms and physical-mental multimorbidity in children (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Mark Ferro

Biography: Kiran Dhuga is pursuing a Master of Science in Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Dr. Mark Ferro. Her research focuses on parental depressive symptoms and mental health among children with a physical illness. She previously completed an Honours Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science with a minor in Neuroscience at the University of Guelph, where she worked alongside Dr. Elena Choleris Outside of school, Kiran enjoys swimming and reading.

Name and program: Kiyoumars Zarshenas (he/him), PhD candidate, Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

GRADflix video title: An innovative solution for thirsty world (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Zhongwei Chen

Biography: Kiyoumars Zarshenas is a PhD candidate in the Chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo. His research interest is on the development of nanomaterials and membranes for separation, and filtration applications. His hobbies include hiking, camping, playing volleyball, swimming, and travelling. He likes to have new experience and learn new things whenever is possible.

Name and program: Larissa Gospodyn (she/her), PhD student, Geography and Environmental Management, Faculty of Environment

GRADflix video title: Groundwater and phosphorus transport: Friend or foe? (YouTube) 

Supervisor: Dr. Merrin Macrae, and Dr. Helen Jarvie

Biography: Larissa Gospodyn is a PhD student in the department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of Waterloo. Her area of research is hydrology and biogeochemistry, with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Manitoba and an Master of Applied Science from Toronto Metropolitan University. Her research focuses on agricultural water quality issues, using chemical and hydrological tracers to better understand water and nutrient transportation. Outside of her research, she loves hiking, travelling and hanging with her cat. 

Name and program: Mana (Naeimeh) Monfared (she/her), PhD candidate, School of Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of Science

GRADflix video title: Let's help dry eyes: Inventing a novel device (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Paul J. Murphy

Biography: Mana obtained her optometry education in Iran and worked there as an optometrist for many years. At the University of Waterloo, she began graduate studies in the field of optometry and vision science in 2021. As a PhD candidate at MLEO (Murphy Laboratory of Experimental Optometry), she conducts research with respect to the anterior segment of the eye and specifically dry eye disease, under the supervision of Dr Paul Murphy. During her free time, she enjoys travelling and biking, as well as exploring the natural world. In addition, she is a huge fan of the Friends television series. 

Name and program: Marina Maciel Ansanelli (she/her), PhD student, Physics and Astronomy,  Faculty of Science

GRADflix video title: Understanding Causality (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Robert Spekkens

Biography: Marina is from São Paulo, Brazil, where she completed her Bachelor degree in Physics. After completing a Master’s degree in Physics at University of Waterloo, which incorporated work from the Perimeter Institute and the State University of São Paulo, she continued at Waterloo and Perimeter for a PhD studying theoretical Physics under the supervision of Prof. Robert Spekkens. She is interested in understanding a bit more about the deepest underpinnings of nature, by means of investigating the foundations of Quantum Mechanics. Marina is also a lover of cats, literature and of recently has started learning to speak Chinese.

Name and program: Megala Ramasamy (she/her), MSc student, School of Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of Science

GRADflix video title: Development of  contact lens testing device using 3D printing (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Lyndon Jones, and Dr. Chau-Minh Phan

Biography: Megala completed her Bachelor's in Biotechnology from Anna University, India. After graduation, she worked as a Project Associate at the Tissue Engineering & Biomaterials Lab, Indian Institute of Technology Madras where she worked on the development of biomaterials for diabetic wound healing and bone cancer. Currently, she is pursuing an Master of Science in Vision Science under the supervision of Dr. Lyndon Jones and Dr. Chau-Minh Phan working on the development of microfluidic devices for ophthalmic drug delivery studies.  Her research interests primarily focus on developing in vitro eye models, and 3D printing. She enjoys cooking and watching movies in her free time. 

Name and program: Meredith Watson (she/her), MSc student, Biology, Faculty of Science

GRADflix video title: Temporal analysis of microplastics in the Grand River watershed (YouTube) 

Supervisor: Dr. Roland Hall

Biography: Meredith Watson completed her Bachelor of Science at Queen’s University in Biochemistry, and is now a Master of Science student in the UWaterloo Department of Biology supervised by Dr. Roland Hall. Her research is looking at microplastics in the Grand River Watershed using paleolimnological techniques. A fun fact about her is that she’s vegan and her favourite author is Sally Rooney.

Name and program: Miswar Syed (he/him), MASc student, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

GRADflix video title: Ammonia for renewable energy storage (YouTube)

Supervisors: Dr. Mehrdad Kazerani

Biography: Miswar is a first-year Master of Science student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department. He is a published author and has presented at multiple international conferences focusing on renewable energy, energy storage, green hydrogen, and ammonia. He is also a member of the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy (WISE). Outside of academia, Miswar is a startup co-founder and likes to get involved in various extracurriculars. His hobbies include reading, writing, working out, running, listening to music, and playing video games. 

Name and program: Navya V. Nair (she/her), PhD student, School of Environment, Enterprise and Development, Faculty of Environment

GRADflix video title: Coastal wetlands for small-scale fisheries (YouTube)

Supervisor: Dr. Prateep Nayak

Biography: Navya V Nair is pursuing her PhD in Sustainability Management (Water) at the School of Environment, Enterprise and Development and Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology (MBET) part-time at Conrad School of Entrepreneurship and Business. Her thesis explores viability of small-scale fisheries by restoring wetlands and protecting water quality. She completed her Master's in the same program. She also holds a Master of Technology in Environmental Engineering and a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering. In her spare time, she likes to dance and sketch. Navya actively participates in international student transition and engagement activities with various campus partners.