Introducing the First EWB Canada–University of Waterloo Fellowship Cohort
We're excited to share EWB Canada's growing partnership with the Global Co-op Team at the University of Waterloo!
EWB Canada and the University of Waterloo have established a new partnership to provide students with meaningful international placements that build both technical expertise and global perspectives. Facilitated through University of Waterloo’s Global Co-op Team, the fellowships are open to students across all faculties, giving them an opportunity to gain firsthand experience working alongside local partners, developing the practical skills, experiences and values that they will carry with them throughout their careers. This partnership reflects EWB Canada’s commitment to mobilizing the engineering community for social good, and investing in the next generation of changemakers.
This marks the return of EWB Canada’s overseas fellowship model, after a six-year hiatus following the COVID-19 pandemic, rebuilt through this partnership with Waterloo’s Global Co-op Team.
“Overseas fellowships have been at the heart of EWB’s work since we were founded 25 years ago,” said David Boroto, CEO of EWB Canada. “EWB fellows are humble, curious, and entrepreneurial. They don’t go overseas to help. They go to learn. What they carry back shapes our engineering community and how Canada sees its role in development. I can’t wait to see what this cohort brings home.“
The engineering challenges facing underserved communities around the world today, will not be solved with technical skill alone. They need engineers who are fluent in both technical and social systems, who have worked inside communities different from their own, who understand that the best technical solution is worthless if it does not fit within the system it is dropped into.
That is the kind of engineer this partnership with the University of Waterloo opportunity is built to develop.
We are thrilled to introduce the first cohort of three University of Waterloo students–supported by the ChangeMakers Award and Co-op for Good Award–who will travel to western Kenya for a three-month work term this fall:
- Edna Nortey, Architectural Engineering – ChangeMakers Award recipient
- Julian Junkin, Geological Engineering – ChangeMakers Award recipient
- Peter Wood, Systems Design – Co-op for Good Award recipient
The fellows will join MKOKO Trust Kenya, a local nonprofit that has led water, sanitation, health, agriculture, and climate resilience work with Khwisero Sub-County communities for over two decades. Working alongside MKOKO’s team, they’ll contribute to the systems-level work already underway to expand sustainable rural infrastructure access.
(L-R): Laurel Pierroz-Wong, EWB Student Chapter Liaison/EWB National Education Program Manager; Luke Cowan, EWB Fellowship Program Manager; Edna Nortey, Architectural Engineering, ChangeMakers Award recipient; Lisa ter Woort, Global Employer Experience Manager, Co-operative Education; Julian Junkin, Geological Engineering, ChangeMakers Award recipient; Peter Wood, Systems Design, Co-op for Good Award recipient
This is the beginning of a long-term partnership with the Global Co-op Team at the University of Waterloo.
Over the next year, the program will recruit students across University of Waterloo faculties each academic term, creating ongoing opportunities for students to apply their skills in real-world development contexts while learning from communities and local partners.
The safety and wellbeing of each one of our fellows is at the heart of this partnership. Every placement is built on a strong local partnership, and a foundation of duty of care, with dedicated support for volunteers before, during, and after their time overseas.
If you’re a University of Waterloo student interested in participating, we’d love to hear from you! The next recruitment cycle will open this October for work terms taking place during the January-April academic term.
To learn more, please contact the University of Waterloo EWB Chapter, Global Co-op Team or the team at EWB Canada National Office at fellowships@ewb.ca.
EWB Canada is also in conversation with other Canadian universities interested in building similar fellowship partnerships. Engineering faculties or co-op offices exploring this model are welcome to reach out to davidboroto@ewb.ca.
