Co-op and Experiential Education

Every year one co-op student from each faculty is recognized by the University of Waterloo for their contribution to their employer, community and the further development of experiential education.

These incredible students found themselves in sectors as diverse as international aid and gaming. Several 2018 winners made strides in medicine, signaling Waterloo’s momentum as a health technology and service leader.

I often get asked how I find the time to manage my projects. I think the answer is pretty simple — I make the time.

Every day, I dedicate myself to working towards initiatives that inspire hope and help break down barriers, around the globe and right here at home in Canada. The opportunity to impact lives through sports and languages is something I have been tremendously lucky to experience first-hand, and it all goes back to my time at UWaterloo.

March 18 to 22 is National Co-op and Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) Week, and the University of Waterloo is celebrating its students’ experience-driven learning opportunities.

More than 22,000 students — approximately 55 per cent of Waterloo’s student population — are currently enrolled in co-op work terms. With the opportunity to develop professional skills by participating in four to six co-op terms, having access to a network of more than 7,000 employers and earning $33,000 to $90,000 — no one does co-op like the University of Waterloo.

While much of the world is talking big data, the story in Canada seems to be our shortage of it.

Recent media reports about our country’s data deficit may be true to an extent, says Anindya Sen, professor of Economics, but there are actually good datasets available through open government portals. The challenge is fully utilizing them to make informed policy decisions that improve people’s lives.

Bronwyn Lazowski
Student, Faculty of Environment
> Research Fellow, Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Energy

The key to any healthy relationship is communication. The same can be said about our relationship to home energy use.

My partner, Rob McGeachy, and I founded big river technologies inc. with two mandates: bring world-class consulting to the financial services industry and provide jobs and economic opportunities to Eastern Ontario.

big river technologies attracts first-class talent to solve complex enterprise challenges.

Seismically monitoring an active volcano in Spain? That's last thing I thought I was going to do when I first started at the University of Waterloo five years ago!

Whenever the choice for a new opportunity crops up, I always ask which option scares me most. And that's the one I choose. This has been the fundamental question I ask myself every term when choosing a co-op job, and it has led me to my most recent position as a seismology intern in Europe.

When Steve Innocente (BSc ’96) parlayed his craft brewing hobby into an award-winning business, he also tapped into the opportunity to reconnect with Waterloo as a co-op employer, vendor, and faculty member.

After graduating, Steve eventually wound up in Scotland, where he earned a PhD in Molecular Biology.

“I was going to be a professor and have my own lab,” he says.

When Debra Kakaria (Walker) (BA ’93) began her first of several co-op work terms with MacNaughton Hermsen Britton Clarkson Planning Limited (MHBC), she had no idea that she would one day become a partner of this firm. Nor could she have imagined that she would have the opportunity to work with so many other University of Waterloo alumni while providing future co-op students and graduates with the same valuable experience that has served her so well.

It is coming up on 31 years since Jennifer (BASc '91) and I met at the University of Waterloo. I was in second year Systems Design Engineering and Jennifer was one of two women starting in her Mechanical Engineering class. I’m so happy that we met. During that term I was actually wondering if I could handle all the demands of 2^nd year engineering. Little did I know how important Waterloo would be to us.