Events, Waterloo

Engineering Awards Dinner

A Faculty to Celebrate!

On November 15th, members of the Engineering faculty, student scholarship winners and award donors gathered to celebrate young minds that will shape the future. With hundreds of awards and many many thousands of dollars awarded, it was an event filled with energy and celebration. The flowers were beautiful, the conversations cheery, and the food was delicious.

In between courses, some very special awards were announced, honoring current students, alumni, and companies. Four start-up companies were granted funding by the Engineer of the Future Fund to help support their entrepreneurial ventures. One of the companies, IuvoDerm, focuses on “simplifying healing for complex wounds” and has created an antimicrobial wound dressing that helps with painful ulcers caused by diabetes. Hydro One received the Friend of the Faculty Award for its generous funding of power-related research and scholarships. Hydro One is making great steps forward in terms of diversity in engineering, with a particular focus on the inclusion of women. They have 10% more female engineers than the industry average and are running several initiatives to support women in engineering.

The Young Alumni Achievement Award went to Martin Basiri, founder of ApplyBoard. Anyone listening to Basiri speak understands that his success is well-deserved and hard-fought. From coming to Canada only speaking a few English words and bringing his brothers over with him, to creating an AI-based company that helps international students apply for studies abroad, Basiri has come full circle to help others in ways he wished he was supported years ago.

The founders of Conavi Medical, Brian Courtney and Aman Thind, went home with the Team Alumni Achievement Medal. Their company has created world-class imaging devices to analyze a patient’s anatomy and underlying disease so cardiologists can deliver personalized treatment. Nickolaos Aroutzidis was awarded the Alumni Achievement Medal for Community Service. One of the causes he champions is the Rotary Respite House, that supports parents of children who are medically fragile or have developmental delays.

The Engineering Faculty is one we should all be proud to be a part of, and one that will continue to innovate and create solutions for our world. To quote Dean Pearl Sullivan: “The brilliant minds,
contagious imaginations and deeply curious nature of the people here tonight are necessary ingredients to global impact through innovative solutions and emerging technologies.”

Cheers to all the award recipients!

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