News

Giang Tran, a third-year Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA) student, was awarded Arts Co-op Student of the Year for her work with Rootly. As this was Tran’s first co-op term, her relevant experience came from class projects and personal side projects. Those projects gave her experience working through open-ended problems, collaborating in teams, and translating ideas into practical design solutions, even without prior industry experience. By sharing her work online she piqued the interest of Rootly’s CEO, leading to her first co-op role as Rootly’s first intern.

When Sara Selvaggi (GBDA ‘20) and Nicole Pasek (GBDA ‘20) work together at Skip, they are focused on more than pixels and interfaces. Their work supports real people, in real environments, often under pressure.

Today, Sara is a UX Researcher and Nicole is a Senior Product Designer at Skip/Just Eat Takeaway. Together, they work on Shop + Pay, a service model that allows customers to order groceries, retail items, and pharmacy essentials in addition to restaurant food. The work is fast-paced, practical, and deeply human. It also reflects the interdisciplinary foundation they built at the University of Waterloo Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.

Three student-designed installations will be featured within Destination Stratford’s Welcome Centre.

46 students from the course “GBDA 412 – Special Topics in Digital Culture” were challenged to create large-scale interactive media art pieces for the Lights On festival, inspired by the Thirteen Grandmother Moons stories, an Indigenous knowledge tradition. Students drew inspiration from this tradition to create installations that explore light as a symbol of knowledge, community, and continuity.

Dr. Ville Mäkelä and colleagues at Waterloo’s Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business are redefining education through Canada’s first large-scale VR-based 3D design course. Using tools like Gravity Sketch and immersive headsets, their innovative approach blends creativity and technology, preparing students for the future of digital design. This initiative sets new standards for interactive learning and showcases Waterloo’s leadership in VR education.

Naimah Venezia (GBDA’25), named one of Waterloo’s Top 10 Entrepreneurs to Watch during Global Entrepreneurship Week 2025, is redefining financial education with CoinWa—a gamified app that teaches teens essential money skills like budgeting, saving, and investing. Combining tech innovation with design thinking, Venezia is challenging norms in financial literacy and empowering the next generation through entrepreneurship.

100 years after The Great Gatsby, GBDA alum Kristen Fajardo releases a speculative, queer cyberpunk reimagining of the American classic. Her background in UX and the tech industry shaped both the novel’s content and the entrepreneurial strategies behind its launch.

At the 2025 Celebration of Arts, Dr. Noorin Manji was honoured with the Arts Award for Excellence in Teaching for her outstanding contributions to pedagogy and mentorship.

Stratford community leaders and donors have come together to support the next generation of creative talent through a $10,000 contribution to the Global Business and Digital Arts (GBDA) Entrance Scholarship at the University of Waterloo. Spearheaded by former Stratford Mayor Dan Mathieson and former MPP John Wilkinson, the initiative provides $5,000 annually for two years to a deserving student facing financial barriers. The scholarship reflects Waterloo’s commitment to experiential education, creativity, and access, and highlights the power of local philanthropy to shape global futures.

Henriëtta van Niekerk and her startup Skrimp.ai secured the E-Launch Award of $5,000 from the University of Waterloo's Enterprise Co-op program.

The Stratford School is proud to share that Dr. Daniel Harley is among the 2024 Outstanding Performance Award recipients.