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Faculty of Science

Science Careers & Experience Centre

Co-op Student of the Year Award

The Co-op Student of the Year Award recognizes outstanding students in the Science Co-operative Education program. Our winners and nominees display exceptional job and academic achievements, and contribute in a meaningful way to cooperative education and extracurricular activities at McMaster and in the community. One Year 3, 4 and 5 winner is chosen each year, with the top scoring candidate being considered as McMaster’s nominee for the National CEWIL and Provincial EWO Co-op Student of the Year Awards. A call for nominations is sent in November each year to all employers.

2024 Winners

Our winners and nominees display exceptional job and academic achievements, and contribute in a meaningful way to cooperative education and extracurricular activities at McMaster and in the community. One Year 3, 4 and 5 winner is chosen each year, with the top scoring candidate being considered as McMaster’s nominee for the National CEWIL and Provincial EWO Co-op Student of the Year Awards. A call for nominations is sent in November each year to all employers.

In 2024, the Science Careers & Experience Centre saw a record-breaking number of nominees for the Co-op Student of the Year Awards, with 32 students nominated by their employers. The awards recognize outstanding achievements by science students in the co-op program, and are assessed based on impact on the employer, student, and the institution.

Co-op student of the year nominees.

Co-op Student of the Year Awards were also presented to Megan Johnson, third year Environmental Sciences student, for her work term at Environment & Climate Change Canada, Maya da Luz, fourth year Chemical Biology student, for her work term with BlueRock Therapeutics, and to Alexandria Mansfield, fifth year Biochemistry student, for her work term with Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network.

Kriesha Eyer, third year Biochemistry student, Dinuri Punchihewa, fourth year Biology & Pharmacology student, and Narges Kalani, fifth year Chemical Biology student, were also recognized for honourable mention for their outstanding contributions during their co-op term.

In 2024, science co-op students completed 659 work terms and earned a combined total of over $5 million.

Read the full story here: An abundance of praise for McMaster’s top science co-op students – Science Careers & Experience Centre – Faculty of Science – McMaster University

2023 Winners

In 2023, 30 nominees, three Co-op Student of the Year winners, and four students for honourable mention were celebrated at the 2023 Faculty of Science Co-op Awards ceremony.

Photo of students outside Alumni Hall

Congratulations to all nominees for their well-deserved recognition, to the winners, Ariya Shiwram, Jasiya Janjua, and Jacob Novielli, and to the students who won honourable mention, Meghan Kostashuk, Paul Grzegorczyk, Spencer M. Chapple, and Amish Gungah.

In addition to being named Co-op Student of the Year, year five, Ariya Shiwram was recognized as runner-up for both McMaster Co-op Student of the Year and Ontario Education Work-Integrated Learning Co-op Student of the Year.

During Ariya’s work term, she designed, troubleshooted, and analyzed complex experiments as a member of the Repare Therapeutics Cancer Biology team. Her supervisors shared that her work contributed to the design of clinical trials that have the potential to positively impact the life of hundreds of cancer patients.

Read the full story here: Celebrating science co-op champions – Faculty of Science – McMaster University