Co-op and Experiential Education

When she was 16 years old, Alexa Megan Holder spent a month camping and canoeing in Northern Ontario. She loved it so much that she became a wilderness guide with the YMCA, taking kids between six and 16 years old on river trips. Her recreational love of wild waters grew into an academic interest that guided her towards Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering for a Bachelor of Architectural Studies (BAS).  

As technologies, like artificial intelligence, continue to advance innovation in the workforce, University of Waterloo co-op students are playing a crucial role in digital transformation.  

In 2022, the Employer Impact Award recipients utilized student talent to help feed the world, digitize the insurance landscape, and gain international perspectives.  

In April this year, the University of Waterloo’s Faculty of Engineering Outreach team launched a free community outreach program called Travelling STEM. Over the summer, the pilot program visited Indigenous communities across Ontario to share exciting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) possibilities with youth from kindergarten to grade 11 in their home communities.  

University of Waterloo is leading the charge in Canada's electric aviation evolution.

Backed by Government of Canada funding, the experts at the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) and Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC) achieved a historic milestone when their tiny, two-seater Pipistrel Velis Electro made its inaugural flight. The Velis Electro is certified to fly in Europe and is being evaluated with an end goal to become Canada’s first type-certified electric plane.

Josh Crone, an undergraduate lab development specialist at the University of Waterloo, recently scored a win in the 2023 Gentec-EO Laser Lab Awards. This global competition is dedicated to enhancing optics labs in educational institutions, ensuring students have access to industry-leading measurement instruments. Collaborating with Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland, Crone paved the way for the win by developing a compelling narrative on how this equipment would benefit physics education at Waterloo.

Hack the North, the largest collegiate hackathon in Canada, celebrated its 10^th anniversary at the University of Waterloo with more than 1,000 students from around the world.

Organized by students for students, the annual event involves participants converging on campus to spend 36 intense hours creating innovative technologies through collaboration and mentorship.

Engineering an epic event

When Melinda Bai (PharmD ’24) and Shirley Ma (PharmD ’24) signed up to complete their co-op work terms in Edson, Alberta, they did not expect to undergo not only one, but two wildfire evacuations, flood warnings and tornado watches. This was a co-op experience like no other.

Battling nerves and emergency evacuations

“The day before our work term started, we received news that the small town we were to work in evacuated the day before,” Bai says. “I was pretty nervous. We didn’t know anyone else, and we didn’t know what to expect.”

An international mix of nine talented, engaged and curious engineering students recently gathered at the University of Waterloo to tackle a big, messy and complex issue — housing. More specifically, how to build 47,000 homes in a way that is sustainable and kind.  

While a typical course of study at Waterloo includes co-op work terms and on-campus coursework, these Math students found they had a lot to learn by traveling much farther. Here’s what they had to say about their adventures thousands of kilometers from home.

The Optometry Clinic at the University of Waterloo’s School of Optometry and Vision Science, in collaboration with Essilor and Modern Optical, conducted an outreach event on August 14, 2023, to provide vision screening and eye examinations for more than 45 children and youth. The Clinic worked with the Youth Association for Academics, Athletics and Character Education (YAAACE), which is a Black-led community organization that seeks to engage children and youth from all communities, to organize this summer camp style event on campus.