Valedictorians for Spring 2018 Convocation

Each year, students from each faculty are nominated by peers to represent their class during convocation. The position of Valedictorian is an honoured one, reflecting an individual who has lead an active post-secondary career, both academically and socially.

Here are your Valedictorians for Spring 2018 Convocation:

FACULTY OF APPLIED HEALTH SCIENCES

Jennifer MacKinnon

Jennifer MacKinnon (BPH 2018) is a Public Health student who was involved in many activities while studying at the University of Waterloo. MacKinnon volunteered with the Applied Health Sciences student association (AHSUM), orientation, the Student Leadership program, and served as an AHS Ambassador. She also worked at several co-op jobs on campus, including recruitment in the Faculty and as a Waterloo Professional Development Program TA. Her favourite co-op placement was working for the Toronto District School Board at the outdoor education centre on the Toronto Islands with children in grades 5 and 6, helping them learn from the land, engage with nature and establish early healthy lifestyle habits. Next fall, MacKinnon starts a Master’s of Child Study and Education so that she can become a qualified Ontario teacher and continue to focus on developmental interventions that will help children create good lifestyle choices.

FACULTY OF ENVIRONMENT

Matthew Rodrigues

Matthew Rodrigues, a student in the University of Waterloo’s School of Planning, distinguished himself from his peers by excelling academically, and extending his passion for building healthy communities into his extracurricular activities. Originally from Mississauga, Rodrigues had little idea of what laid ahead for him at Waterloo and where his interest lay in planning. What began with an interest in public transit quickly evolved into a passion for policy development, improving urban food access, and shaping mobile cities. Understanding that learning how to be a successful planner requires both experience and academics, he took on roles as a teaching assistant, travelling abroad, and welcoming first-year students as a don and peer leader at St. Paul’s University College. In his spare time, Rodrigues enjoys exploring all that the Waterloo Region community has to offer.

FACULTY OF ARTS

Komal Javed

Komal Javed is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA). Throughout her studies, Javed took advantage of the numerous opportunities available to students on campus and beyond. Among these, she joined groups such as Hack the North, UW Blueprint, and was a Residence Life Don. Over four years as an undergraduate, she was a member of two start-up teams for which she helped raise more than $100,000 in support funding. Javed was a teaching assistant for a first-year GBDA course. Along with all her school-related activities and a part-time job, Javedplayed on three intramural sports teams.

Irene Lai

Irene Lai is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in the Honours Arts and Business Co-op program with a major in Speech Communication, a minor in Human Resources Management, and a Global Experience Certificate. She has engaged with many diverse experiences as a student, which she feels had a very positive effect in her journey of growth and self-discovery. She has participated in numerous extracurricular activities, including UW ARBUS Society, Fashion for Change, FEDS Foodbank, Arts Orientation leaders, UW Dragon Boat Club, and more. Among her academic work, Lai was an undergraduate teaching assistant in both her major and minor fields. This fall, she will be attending Osgoode Hall Law School at York University to pursue a Juris Doctor degree.

Ashay Padhye

Ashay Padhye is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Financial Management. Throughout his program years, he immersed himself in many areas of campus life, including Arts Orientation, which gave him a broad perspective on the Waterloo Arts student experience. Padhye believes that the energy and passion of arts students makes a positive impact in shaping campus culture, and that students are at the forefront of ensuring inclusivity and making social change. Padhye says that the experiences he and his graduating cohort have had as students will fuel future positive actions in the wider world.

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

Caroline Illman

Caroline Illmann

Caroline Illmann will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Honours Biology, Co-operative Program, and a Chemistry minor. She’s been active within Waterloo Science from the beginning, even during her first Orientation Week. Illmann has remained active almost every year since, first, as a Fun Police Orientation Leader and later, as Food and Media Coordinator. During the year, Caroline serves as a Science Ambassador, volunteering at Open Houses. She also mentors students as part of the Science Student Help Team. Illmann regularly participates in Science Society and Biology Undergraduate Society (BUGS) events throughout the year.

Richard Nguyen

Richard Nguyen has been active in a number of roles within the Faculty of Science and University communities, including Campus Ambassador, Science Orientation Leader and Coordinator, Orientation Leader Training Lead in the Student Success Office, Science and Business Teaching Assistant, various roles within the Federation of Students and GradBall Coordinator (Science Society). Nguyen credits his success to all the peers and mentors who have become like a second family to him. Nguyen will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Honours Science and Business, and a Psychology minor. Nguyen has a keen interest in Earth and Environmental Sciences, completing a number of courses in the department.

FACULTY OF MATHEMATICS

Joey Pereira

Joseph (Joey) Pereira

Promoting entrepreneurship and sharing his knowledge with others motivated Joseph (Joey) Pereira to conquer big projects. Pereira has served as a co-director of Hack the North three times, welcoming over 1,000 hackers a year from around the world to Canada’s largest hackathon. Pereira’s also hosted workshops at Canada Learning Code and Techyon, and volunteered as a mentor and content creator for Tech Retreat 2015, a hackathon for Ontario high school students. In 2015, Pereira was named Co-op Student of the Year, recognizing his work as a software engineer and lead developer at PiinPoint, where he took a lead role in the development, improvement, and expansion of their platform. He also spent co-op terms working in software engineering and developer roles at Stripe, Shopify, and Cockroach Labs. Pereira will graduate with a Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours).

Winnie Luong

Winnie Luong is a talented public speaker who honed her skills as a Senior Advisor and Vice-President (Ontario) of the Actuarial Students National Association, delivering presentations to hundreds of students and employers, and directing marketing in universities across the province to boost event attendance. On campus, Luong has served in a number of executive roles for the UW Actuarial Science Club - including President – and helped organize dozens of events to support both her peers and prospective students. Winner of the Ontario Conference of Casualty Actuaries Scholarship (2017) and the Manulife Financial Upper Year Actuarial Science Scholarship in 2015, Luong represented the University of Waterloo as a National Team Finalist at the 2016 Munich Re Cup. She was active all over campus too, paddling with the Dragon Boat Club, and playing Intramural Ultimate Frisbee and badminton. After graduation, she’ll begin her career as an actuarial analyst with Intact Financial in Toronto. Luong will receive her Bachelor of Mathematics in Actuarial Science (Finance Option) and a minor in Statistics.

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

Soheil Koushan

Soheil Koushan is graduating from software engineering, with a minor in cognitive science. A Loran Scholar, Koushan is completing his degree on the Dean's Honours List. While a student, Koushan worked in five different cities over six co-op terms where he spent eight months in Sweden on exchange at Lund University and on co-op at Spotify. His fourth-year Capstone Design project entitled LettuceMeet is a group scheduling app used by hundreds of people every month. During his last semester, Koushan filmed a series of interviews with his classmates discussing their experiences in software engineering and Waterloo, similar to the Humans of New York photo-series. Koushan is joining Embark Trucks located in San Francisco. The self-driving truck startup was founded by Waterloo Engineering graduates.

Nabeel Shahid

Nabeel Shahid is graduating with a BASc in systems design engineering. Shahid began his post-secondary education studying business at another university, but after realizing that engineering and technology were his passions, he transferred to Waterloo because of the University’s culture of innovation and exploration. Shahid chose to study systems design engineering because of the unique aspects of the program and the Faculty’s co-op program, which offers the opportunity to explore different career paths. His fourth-year team’s Capstone Design project Hiza, a wearable device to help collegiate athletes reduce their risk of an ACL injury by tracking risk factors, won the Sedra People’s Choice Award for Capstone Design in March. During his last year at Waterloo, Shahid served as the president of the University of Waterloo Management Consulting Club and helped expand the club’s annual case competition to include seven top firms, sponsorship from a global consulting firm, and over 250 applicants. Shahid is moving to New York City to work as a management consultant. He plans to use his work experience along with his Waterloo Engineering degree to become an entrepreneur in the near future.