À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ

A À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ student who co-founded an oil and gas startup has won a national award for best co-op student of the year in Canada. He is among six students who received the University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ's top award for co-op students in their Faculties.

The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education (CAFCE) selected Andrew AndradeÌýfrom À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ's Faculty of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering for itsÌýCo-op Student of the Year Award. Another À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ student,ÌýSkye Wattie, honoured as the top student in the Faculty of Arts, won a provincial award: theÌýEducation at Work Ontario AwardÌýfor co-op student of the year.

These two students, along with one student from every other Faculty won À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ's top prize for co-op students of the year.ÌýIt is recognition of their exemplary performance during a work term in 2014, along with other factors including community involvement, contribution to co-op and academic achievement.

The following are the recipients of the 2014 University of À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ Co-op Student of the Year Award:

Andrew Andrade – Mechatronics Engineering (Engineering)

In his Enterprise Co-op work term, Andrew co-founded PetroPredict, a company that uses machine learning forÌýrisk modelling to inform oil companies about pipeline leaks that could cause environmental damage.ÌýPetroPredict won $25,000 at the Velocity Fund Finals as well as various other competitions. Andrew placed third in the Society of Petroleum Engineers Canada-wide graduate research competition for his work on artificial intelligence in the oil and gas industry.ÌýHe leads technology development and research at PetroPredict, housed at the Velocity Garage, and supervises a number of new recruits, including co-op students.Ìý

Andrew is a proud promoter of co-operative education and has given motivational talks in various high schools. An avid traveller, he is currently on an exchange in Singapore.

Skye Wattie – Psychology: Arts and Business

At RL Solutions, Skye handled the work of a full-time employee managing the implementation of risk-management software for the healthcare industry, generating $400,000 in revenue.ÌýFor each project, he was in charge of all aspects of implementation: organization and management, client presentations, consulting, testing and client training.ÌýSkye’s innovation of new tools and a hands-on approach to training made it easier for clients to learn the software in less time.ÌýHe attended a conference in California where he presented on change management.Ìý

Skye is a residence life don and has received excellent reviews.ÌýHe co-founded a national awareness and fundraising campaign, called Kilometres for Communication, for people who speak with augmentative and alternative communication devices.

The Canadian Association for Co-operative Education leads National Co-op Week, which celebrates the growth of co-op education programs across the country. À¶Ý®ÊÓƵ is the world leader in co-op education, and is home to the world’s largest co-op program.