Waterloo MME student wins top co-op student of the year in Canada

A Waterloo student who co-founded an oil and gas startup has won a national award for best co-op student of the year in Canada. He is among six students who received the University of Waterloo's top award for co-op students in their Faculties.

The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) selected Andrew Andrade from Waterloo's Faculty of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering for its Co-op Student of the Year Award. Another Waterloo student, Skye Wattie, honoured as the top student in the Faculty of Arts, won a provincial award: the Education at Work Ontario Award for co-op student of the year.

These two students, along with one student from every other Faculty won Waterloo's top prize for co-op students of the year. It is recognition of their exemplary performance during a work term in 2014, along with other factors including community involvement, contribution to co-op and academic achievement.

The following are the recipients of the 2014 University of Waterloo Co-op Student of the Year Award:

Andrew Andrade – Mechatronics Engineering (Engineering)

In his Enterprise Co-op work term, Andrew co-founded PetroPredict, a company that uses machine learning for risk modelling to inform oil companies about pipeline leaks that could cause environmental damage. PetroPredict won $25,000 at the Velocity Fund Finals as well as various other competitions. Andrew placed third in the Society of Petroleum Engineers Canada-wide graduate research competition for his work on artificial intelligence in the oil and gas industry. He leads technology development and research at PetroPredict, housed at the Velocity Garage, and supervises a number of new recruits, including co-op students. 

Andrew is a proud promoter of co-operative education and has given motivational talks in various high schools. An avid traveller, he is currently on an exchange in Singapore.

Skye Wattie – Psychology: Arts and Business

At RL Solutions, Skye handled the work of a full-time employee managing the implementation of risk-management software for the healthcare industry, generating $400,000 in revenue. For each project, he was in charge of all aspects of implementation: organization and management, client presentations, consulting, testing and client training. Skye’s innovation of new tools and a hands-on approach to training made it easier for clients to learn the software in less time. He attended a conference in California where he presented on change management. 

Skye is a residence life don and has received excellent reviews. He co-founded a national awareness and fundraising campaign, called Kilometres for Communication, for people who speak with augmentative and alternative communication devices.

The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education leads National Co-op Week, which celebrates the growth of co-op education programs across the country. Waterloo is the world leader in co-op education, and is home to the world’s largest co-op program.