Troost ILead Difference Maker Award

The Troost ILead Difference Maker Award is for a remarkable fourth year undergraduate engineering student who is ready to build a better world.

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Applications for the 2023-2024 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award are now being accepted!

Deadline for submission of applications is 11:59 p.m. on November 7, 2023.

About The Award

Do you have a proven track record and a high commitment to making your community a better place? Are you an individual with dreams and the determination to get there? Are you a person who has actively expressed leadership and demonstrates a commitment to your own potential and ongoing development?

If the above is reflective of you, then we encourage you to apply for the Troost ILead Difference Maker Award. This $50,000 award is for a remarkable 4^th year undergraduate student who is ready to dream, launch and make the world a better place.

Award Criteria

Engagement

Engagement with Troost ILead (whether an academic course, or a co-curricular enrichment program) strongly preferred.
Experience

Proven record of leadership and influence. This looks like making things happen, being engaged, taking on challenges, chasing your dreams and visions, making things better, and being of service to others.
Academics

A minimum cumulative GPA (CGPA) of 2.70.
Character

Demonstration of character: confidence, humility, collaboration, citizenship, integrity and kindness.
Vision

A vision of how you will work towards making your community a better place post-graduation.

Award Info Session

Information Session:

If you’re interested in learning more about the Difference Maker Award, we welcome you to watch the virtual information session (below).

This session is designed to support you to navigate the application process and hear directly from the Chair of the Selection Committee and past DMA Winners

Participants will have an opportunity to:

Learn more about the award criteria
Gain insight into how to shape their application
Learn about an upcoming workshop aimed at supporting students in strengthening their application

Submission Requirements

1. Statement of Purpose:

Your statement of purpose needs to show us what you stand for, how you have made a difference so far, and how you dream of making a difference in the future. What would 50K allow you to do? What doors and opportunities would open for you? What would you commit to? Statements of Purpose should be approximately 500-1000 words.

Do you need help with structure and writing strategies for your Difference Maker Award statement of purpose?

The Engineering Communication Program (ECP) is available to help you! Click here for more info and to book an appointment.

2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume:

Please ensure you submit the most current copy.

3. Unofficial Transcript:

This is to confirm that your CPGA meets the minimum requirement of 2.70.

4. Two Testimonial Letters:

All applicants must secure two testimonials. These are not standard letters of reference, but descriptors of your character and leadership impact. Please carefully choose two individuals in your life who can speak to your values and previous experiences/successes. These testimonials might come from a peer, a mentor, a professor, etc.

Within the online application form, you will be asked for the contact details of the individuals providing the testimonial letters; the Selection Committee will contact them directly to collect their testimonial letters on your behalf. Please ensure you discuss this with your contacts in advance!

2023-2024 Application Deadline: Nov 7, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.

Please ensure that your submitted nomination package is complete and accurate. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

What’s Next?

Following the application deadline, the chosen candidates will be invited for the final step in the selection process: an interview with the Selection Committee.

Only those who have been selected will be contacted.

Questions?

If you have questions, please contact Julietta Siberian, Assistant Director, Community of Practice, at julietta.mikaelyan@utoronto.ca.

Apply for Troost ILead Difference Maker Award

2024 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Winner

Nelson Lee

Nelson Lee (Year 4, CompE) has been selected as the winner of the 2024 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award.

Lee’s lifelong commitment to providing opportunities for others and unwavering courage to create solutions where they are most needed have distinguished him as a model student leader. His outstanding academic record has established him as a regular on the Dean’s Honour List (2020-23), while he has also held esteemed student governance positions, such as Governor, University of Toronto Governing Council (2023-present), and Director, University of Toronto’s Student Union (2020-present).

During his term as an undergraduate, Lee also successfully developed a mobile app, Haven Safe (2021-present) – a campus safety response system that has been adopted by four Canadian universities and serves 9,000 students.

Lee is not afraid to be adaptable as the need arises, and using the support from the Difference Maker Award, he aims to continue developing his engineering and leadership skillset so that he is equipped to create diverse solutions for the all challenges he wants to tackle out in the world.

Read the full interview with Nelson Lee, the 2024 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award winner.

2024 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Finalists

Graeme Aylward

Graeme Aylward (Year 4, IndE) will graduate in 2024 with a Major in Industrial Engineering and Minors in Business and Artificial Intelligence.

An accomplished swimmer and captain of the Men’s Varsity Swim Team, Aylward has demonstrated remarkable determination and resilience to excel within the demanding student-athlete environment and has built a supportive culture within the team. His development of an app that fused mental wellness support with organizational and time-management tools for the Fitness and Performance Teams at U of T aptly captures Aylward’s various passions.

In his PEY program, Aylward was employed as a Data Science Analyst at Birch Hill Equity Partners (2022-23). Further, as a Teaching Assistant Aylward has mentored fellow undergraduates at University of Toronto (2021- current), and studied performance optimization and cost saving analysis while acting as a Business Intelligence Intern for Bell Canada (2021).

Aylward intends to return to Birch Hill as a full-time analyst following graduation, leveraging his strengths in analytics and storytelling to improve business systems before next turning his attention to the development of health care policy. He is passionate about improving the healthcare system and hopes to apply the skills he’s developing in business optimization toward a career in healthcare management.

Abnash Bassi

Abnash Bassi (Year 4, EngSci) graduates in Spring 2024 with specialties in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Driven to engage with the challenges of climate change, Bassi is focused on renewable energy solutions and tackling environmental issues.

Bassi and the U of T Wind Turbine design team (UTWind) won first place at the 2022 International Small Wind Turbine competition and a Sustainability Award at the 2023 competition. As the Controls and Electronics Subsystem lead, Bassi encouraged her team to dream big, take risks and have fun.

Throughout university, Bassi has worked on a new sustainability and environmental justice portfolio of projects through the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) organization, which brings engineers into the fold of tackling climate change. She has also worked at Rivian, a company known for developing electric delivery vehicles for Amazon Prime. Additional impactive internship experiences Bassi completed included Intel Corporation (2022-2023) and clean energy public policy research at the Pembina Institute (2020). She is also a member of the Hart House Singers Choir.

After graduation, Bassi plans to work in the electric vehicle industry and contribute to grassroots environmental initiatives.

Natalie Enriquez-Birch

Natalie Enriquez-Birch (Year 4, IndE) will graduate in Spring 2024 with a Major in Industrial Engineering and Minors in Indigenous Studies and Latin American Studies and a Certificate in Global Engineering. Enriquez-Birch has British-settler and Mestizo parents and grew up in Toronto and Alangasí, Ecuador.

Enriquez-Birch’s unique combination of deeply-held values, academic preparation and impact-driven experiences underpin her work as an engineer. She is uniquely skilled at interdisciplinary thinking including bridging western and Indigenous knowledges learned during her minors.

She points to three key experiences as representative of her interests: facilitating workshops on reconciliation as a member of the Toronto Youth Reconciliation Initiative (2018-19); supporting family microbusinesses in Mexico while conducting research through Reach Alliance (2021-2023); and in her contributions to First Nations energy sovereignty projects while working with JAZZ Solar Solutions (2023-present).

Enriquez-Birch also has a proven record of leadership, having attended the 2020 Troost ILEAD Summer Fellowship, as well as acting as a 2020 Conversations With Club Leaders panelist and a 2021 Summer Fellowship Equity Workshop Facilitator. She is also a former Engineers Without Borders U of T Chapter President and Reach Alliance researcher.

In the future, Enriquez-Birch aspires to move back to Ecuador for graduate studies related to the rights of nature and Indigenous communities.

Amy Huang

Amy Huang (Year 4, EngSci) is in her final year of Engineering Science with a specialisation in Biomedical Systems Engineering, and a Minor in Classical Civilization.

A Dean’s List scholar throughout all semesters of her undergraduate study, Huang’s outstanding academic record is equally matched by her passion to connect engineering approaches with biomedical concepts to solve complex medical problems – in particular, the treatment of hydrocephalus.

Huang felt compelled to make an impact in the treatment of hydrocephalus upon discovering that the catheter's central technology has remained unchanged for decades and has subsequently designed an innovative ventricular catheter during her research internship at Harvard (2021-present). She has also volunteered with Hydrocephalus Canada and International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus to support community awareness initiatives.

In addition to current projects as a thesis student, Huang’s research and conference experience ranges from lab work at Harvard University (2021-present) to National University of Singapore (2021). Huang has also been the Co-President of the Club for Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering (CUBE).

Following graduation, Huang intends to pursue graduate studies in Biomedical Engineering, with a focus on medical device development.

2023 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Winner

Adriana Diaz Lozano Patino

Adriana Diaz Lozano Patino (Year 4, EngSci) has been selected as winner of the Troost ILead Difference Maker Award.

Diaz Lozano Patino’s strong character, resilience, passionate commitment to social justice, and transformational leadership qualities are evident in her ability to motivate peers and lead change in our Engineering community. Her humble leadership in the Hi-Skule and Skule Mental Wellness STEM outreach teams references a fierce and heartfelt dedication to serving others.

Diaz Lozano Patino’s relentless commitment to bringing positive change to the global water-energy nexus in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) has further resulted in taking research initiatives in new directions.

Through her involvement in the Water and Energy Research Lab (WERL), Diaz Lozano Patino has worked on analysis of coupled UV-RO systems in Bangladesh, rainwater harvesting technologies with field partners in Mexico’s Isla Urbana, and a Centre for Global Engineering sanitation initiative in peri-urban areas of Mexico City, where she grew up.

Diaz Lozano Patino aspires to continue her studies with a Masters of Applied Science, focusing on global development, STEM outreach and field research and sustainable development projects that resonate with her deeply-held principles.

Read the full interview with Adriana Diaz Lozano Patino, the 2023 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award winner.

2023 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Finalists

Lauren Streitmatter

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Lauren Streitmatter (Year 4, EngSci) is graduating with a major in Energy Systems Engineering and a minor in Environmental Engineering.

Rooted in an early passion for environmental issues, Streitmatter has continuously sharpened her area of interest through studies in science, mathematics and energy engineering. A strong sense of “core impact” projects has now emerged: energy modelling, grid decarbonization and equitable design.

Streitmatter has twice competed in MIT Hackathons, with her team becoming a finalist in 2020 for the analysis and policies they recommended to guide equitable bicycle infrastructure installation in Southern California.

As Co-President of U of T’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) in 2020-21, Streitmatter supervised 180+ members developing projects and running awareness events across six portfolios. As the Environmental Sustainability Director (ESD) of U of T’s Engineering Society 2022-present, Streitmatter is engaging with engineering faculty to increase sustainability coverage in the curriculum. She credits her involvement in the 2020 ILead Summer Fellowship for early learnings in leadership best practices.

In 2019, Streitmatter worked as an Engineering Intern in Santiago, Chile, conducting health and efficiency data analysis of solar plants, and in 2022 toured Icelandic hydro and geothermal power plants as well as attending lectures at Reykjavik University. She also continues to work as an undergraduate researcher with the UC San Diego Renewable Energy and Advanced Mathematics Lab, building a renewable microgrid model to optimize for environmental justice, and analyzing the viability of hydrogen storage.

As an Energy Consultant with Posterity Group Consulting Inc. from 2021-2022, analyzing policy impacts and greenhouse gas reduction pathways for major North American energy utilities, Streitmatter gained valuable professional experience. She looks forward to further professional development post-graduation as she commences employment with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).

Click here to read the full interview with Lauren Streitmatter.

Kim Watada

Kim Watada (Year 4, ChemEng) graduates with a minor in Engineering Business and Sustainable Energy in spring 2023.

She finishes her undergraduate studies with remarkable academic distinction, having earned a spot on the Dean’s Honour List, nine academic and leadership awards, and top accolades from national and international research and design competitions.

Largely completing her studies during the challenges of the global pandemic, Watada reflexively found it a period of personal growth and inspiration. She cites the period as formative in her development as a compassionate and empathetic leader, referencing the Troost ILead TEP 442: Cognitive and Psychological Foundations of Effective Leadership course as “a guiding pillar for resilience throughout the pandemic.”

Watada was elected as Academic Director of the Chemical Engineering Club in April 2020, working closely with faculty to navigate new virtual learning practices, host townhall meetings, and implement curriculum changes that helped students cope with the obstacles of intermittent lockdown and remote studies. Watada has since built on this experience, serving as both Chair of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) and Head of Curriculum for Global Spark over the past year.

Watada’s experience in TEP442 also helped her refine an interest in the area of global climate action and its social impact.

In 2021, Watada completed her Professional Experience Year (PEY) with CPP Investments on their Sustainable Investing team, co-authored a report on the intersection of climate change and gender equity that was presented at New York’s 2021 Climate Week, studied renewable energy at Reykjavik University in Iceland, and flew to England to compete in the finale of Imperial College London’s Climate Investment Challenge - the largest climate finance competition in the world.

Watada now aspires to become an expert in decarbonization strategy, helping to mitigate the outsized impact that climate transition will have on developing nations.

In pursuit of her goals, the native of Oakville, Ontario seeks further international exposure and multidisciplinary perspective; Watada intends to work as a management consultant for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) following graduation.

Click here to read the full interview with Kim Watada.

Yazan Zamel

Yazan Zamel (Year 4, EngSci) is graduating with a major in Energy Systems Engineering, and minors in both Environmental Engineering and Engineering Business.

A native of Jordan, Zamel directly experienced the effects of climate change in the Middle East region on local industry, agriculture and family business. His passion for finding solutions to environmental issues is underpinned by strong knowledge of the holistic nature of these challenges.

Concurrently addressing aspects of education, social disparity and community development, “Access Energy” is a consulting company that Zamel is building to develop affordable and accessible community solar projects.

As president of the Sustainable Engineers Association (SEA) since May 2021, Zamel draws on leadership lessons learned through ILead programs and his studies in the Engineering Leadership Certificate. His ambition is to create dynamic and collaborative work environments that can target stakeholders with clear and effective communication strategies.

Zamel’s desire to practice empathy in leadership roles is also evident in the broad scope of projects he has spearheaded or conceptualized.

A recipient of the International Diana Award in July 2022 for his work as founder of the “Ray of Hope” program, Zamel has helped over four thousand refugees find equitable learning and employment opportunities.

Following graduation, Zamel intends to channel his ambitions into post-grad studies in Global Engineering and Climate Policy, with a view towards eventually attaining a doctorate in Climate Change Finance and Integrated Sustainable Leadership.

Click here to read the full interview with Yazan Zamel.

Samantha Unger

Samantha Unger (Year 4, EngSci) graduates in spring 2023 with a major in Biomedical Systems Engineering and a minor in Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Unger has had a longstanding interest in the vanguard of new technology, such as AI and digital design.

In 2020 she was selected as one of 30 female students nationally to be part of AI4Good Lab Training Program, a program designed for women and AI in tech. In 2022, Unger was one of 15 students selected internationally to attend the Intelligence, Data, Ethics and Society Summer program at Northeastern University. She has since added professional experience working as a Software Engineer Intern at Google DeepMind and as a Summer Associate with Boston Consulting Group to an already impressive CV.

Unger has also found time to engage in an array of leadership experiences alongside her undergraduate studies.

Con-currently Co-Chair for both the Engineering Science Discipline Club (EngSci Club) and the Engineering Science Education Conference (ESEC) since 2022, she has led large teams of students, staff and volunteers in large-scale educational and targeted initiatives. As a Course Partnerships Advisor, Managing Director and Campus Lead for the Global Spark organization since 2019, Unger works in partnership with university administration and faculty to create and integrate social impact content into coursework.

Through the 2020 ILead Summer Fellowship program, Unger found a vehicle to make a strong impact as well; she developed a change project as part of the Fellowship that involved a rewrite of EngSci Club’s constitution.

Using AI tools and designs in conjunction with biomedicine to contribute to positive physical and mental health is an area of growing interest for Unger.

Working as a Research Trainee at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) for over a year, Unger utilized wearable devices to track and then analyze foundational health data, comprised of heart rate, sleep and movement readings.

In the future, Unger aspires to further combine her interests in Biomedical Engineering and AI through a PhD program.

Click here to read the full interview with Samantha Unger.

Ziting (Judy) Xia

Ziting (Judy) Xia (Year 4, ChemEng) graduates with minors in Biomedical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering.

Born and raised in China, Xia moved to Canada as an international student during high school and at first encountered an unfamiliar educational dynamic.

Yet Xia continued to do well in her studies in Canada. After commencing at University of Toronto, she made Dean’s List 2018-2022 and maintained a cGPA of 4.0. She has also won the U of T Excellence Award for three consecutive years and worked in research labs every summer since her first year.

Her work on microplastic extraction from stormwater sample from Prof. Elodie Passeport's lab (ChemE & CivMin) and her work on creating 3D models for pancreatic cancer from Prof. Alison McGuigan’s (Chem E & Institute of Biomedical Engineering) won second and first place in student presentations at the national Canadian Chemical Engineering Conference (CCEC 2019, 2020).

Then, one day early in her undergrad studies, Xia had a profoundly moving experience while attending a medical conference.

While listening to heartbreaking testimonials from the families of people dying from neurogenerative diseases, Xia was deeply moved to help. She later joined Prof. Nitin Joshi’s lab at Center for Accelerated Medical Innovation at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School with a clear goal in mind.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, Xia was again driven to help those at risk.

After leading a team on a project to extend the life of N95 masks through an innovative retrofit, Via won a U of T COVID Student Engagement Award. She and her team then received a top 20 placing in the John Hopkins Top 20 in Global Covid Design Challenge. Her unique mask redesign is currently going through a patent licensing process in the U.S.

Since discovering a passion for neuroscience and biomaterial engineering, Xia’s definition of leadership has evolved greatly.

Xia aspires to continue her studies with a PhD in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics at the Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology program.

Her PhD concentration area will be Brain and Cognitive Science, where she will focus on building therapeutic tools to study and model biological mechanism underlying neurodegenerative disease.

Click here to read the full interview with Ziting (Judy) Xia.

2022 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Winner

Khadija Rana

Khadija Rana (Year 4, EngSci BME + PEY Co-op) has been selected as winner of the Troost ILead Difference Maker Award. Her warm energy and relentless compassion have powered important changes in our Engineering community over the past 5 years. As President of the UofT Chapter of WISE (an international network of activists, educators, and industry partners), Khadija has reframed conversations of gender equity in STEM fields by challenging normative patterns of thinking.

Khadija is passionate about social justice, accessible healthcare, and systems engineering. She aims to combine these with her experiences in biomedical research, leadership education, and public health to design community-centered care systems, where doctors are afforded time to engage with problems and nurture relationships with patients. In her spare time, Khadija enjoys singing, volunteering, writing, and travelling!

Read the full interview with Khadija Rana, the 2022 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award winner.

2022 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Finalists

Abdulnaser Allabwani

Nasser is graduating from Computer Engineering with minors in Artificial Intelligence and Engineering Business. Nasser was displaced from his home country, Syria, due to the ongoing war and arrived in Toronto in 2017 where he pursued his undergraduate studies. During his time at the University of Toronto, Nasser started multiple startup projects in brain-computer interface and global supply-chain.

Having lived during wartime, Nasser believes that spreading peace and prosperity to other places in the world can only happen if we’re coming from a position of economic power, and in order to create a powerful economy, people, especially engineers, must constantly experiment with new project ideas and embrace its accompanying uncertainties. Nasser believes that the agile process of building fast and failing fast is one of the most efficient ways for engineers to learn how to build products people want.

Advice to emerging leaders:

"Find a problem you personally face and try to build a solution for it, repeat the process.
How do you identify such problems? Whenever you are upset or frustrated, be mindful of why you are feeling that? What’s the action or task you are doing that’s causing your frustration? Your answer to the question is a problem that’s likely worth solving."

Cassandra Chanen

Cassandra Chanen is a 4^th year EngSci student majoring in Engineering Physics with an Environmental Engineering minor. Cassandra sees student clubs as an important part of building community on campus and has taken on multiple leadership roles throughout her time at UofT. Most recently, she served as Director of the University of Toronto Aerospace Team - Space Systems Division since May 2020, leading the team through the COVID-19 pandemic and the initial design phases for their upcoming remote sensing CubeSat "FINCH".

After university, Cassandra plans to continue her studies in climate and atmospheric physics and hopes to move on to work at the intersection of climate science and policy. She also plans to continue to build community in the City around her through engaging in mutual aid work.

Advice to emerging leaders:

"One of the most useful things for my leadership development has been learning how to incorporate feedback mechanisms into my planning. Giving people multiple ways to participate and give feedback on plans ensures that everyone's voices are heard, and that you're making decisions based on a true consensus. The ILead Summer Fellowship had some really helpful sessions on feedback mechanisms, and I couldn't recommend the program enough!"

Jacqueline Fleisig

Jacquie is an EngSci 2T1 + PEY (Biomedical Systems Option) with an interest in technology, policy, and the applications of these topics to building equitable healthcare. As President of Engineers Without Borders U of T, she spent a lot of time engaging in big ideas about systems change and enabling others to do the same. Currently, as UofT Engineering Society President, Jacqueline brings her love of fostering connections and her interest in advocacy to helping students navigate concerns and answering far too many emails. For her undergraduate thesis, Jacqueline is examining how eHealth technologies can be designed to increase accessibility for marginalized groups. After graduation, Jacqueline hopes to leverage her experiences in leadership and advocacy to contribute to improving equity in healthcare.

Advice to emerging leaders:

"Prioritize listening and reflecting. These skills will help you in becoming both a better leader and a better person; they are the foundation upon which so many other practices are built. If you have the capacity to listen to others, to listen to yourself, and then to synthesize these learnings it will accelerate your growth."

Bipasha Goyal

Bipasha Goyal will be graduating from the Biomedical Systems option in Engineering Science this year. Throughout her five years at U of T, Bipasha has been an active member of Toronto’s vibrant research community. She has performed research in diverse fields from robotics to protein delivery at some of U of T’s top labs, the Hospital for Sick Children and collaborations with the Max-Planck Institute in Germany.

Bipasha has also made her mark through various extracurriculars at UofT, most notably her roles in the Club for Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering (CUBE), the largest biomedical engineering club at UofT. Greatly benefitting from the club’s initiatives as a first-year student, Bipasha aimed to provide the same support to her juniors. Through various executive roles over the past three years, she organised networking events and revamped CUBE’s mentorship program to help students foster meaningful connections with U of T professors, graduate students, and alumni across the world. Now, as Co-President, she has expanded CUBE’s reach beyond engineering to different departments at U of T and shifted its mandate from professional development to complete biomedical engineering immersion, creating the “go-to” student club in this field. Bipasha has also served as Co-Conference Chair for U of T Society for Stem Cell Research, organising U of T's first-ever virtual stem cell undergraduate conference inviting international speakers including discoverer of stem cells, James Till and Moderna co-founder, Derrick Rossi. Through these roles, Bipasha has grown immensely as a team member and leader. Each has provided her valuable lessons in leadership, and subsequently a stronger understanding of herself.

Stemming from her experiences, Bipasha has developed a passion for empowering through knowledge, particularly in the area of female reproductive health. She strives to become a biomedical engineer working at the intersection of science, policy and human health.

Advice to emerging leaders:

"Organizational goals may seem abstract or unattainable, especially to busy university students. It is thus important for a leader to relate the team’s goals to each member’s individual aspiration, so they feel valued and self-motivated to work towards the team’s shared goal. A leader should thus provide opportunities for personal growth and exploration, without losing the team’s overall objective. This is a delicate balance to achieve, but something that can be learnt by continuously practicing this skill."

Gabriel Sher

Gabe is graduating from Electrical and Computer Engineering with a mind for thoughtfully and responsibly considering the human and social impact of modern digital technology. Next year, he will attend the Technical University of Delft in the Netherlands to pursue an M.Sc. in Engineering and Policy Analysis, where he intends to broaden his professional skill set and deepen his human-first focus. Regardless of technical field, Gabe brings with him a focus on cross-disciplinary work, bridging the gap between details and the big picture, and creating a space for more technical thinkers to do their best work. He is motivated to serve the public and is hesitantly optimistic about the role of technology in balancing power and fighting inequity.

At U of T, Gabe pursued a general focus within ECE, covering areas from radio and wireless communications, to computer security, to computer networks. In his final year, he branched beyond purely technical classes to take courses in engineering leadership, science communications, and systems mapping. Outside of class, he has served as Chair of the Engineering Society’s Orientation Committee and Director of the University of Toronto Aerospace Team’s Space Systems Division. He is passionate about authentic leadership and developing meaningful relationships within his professional, local, and hyper-local communities. Outside of school and work, he enjoys playing and designing tabletop games, watching movies and TV, and spending quality time with his family, friends, partner, and cat.

Advice to emerging leaders:

"My first piece of advice is to just do things. Leadership is such an experiential set of skills that are hard to learn in the classroom. The key to learning about who you are is to lead in a bunch of different contexts, so when your schedule allows, take on leadership opportunities where you can find them. Second, I would advise you to remember that leadership is about working with people. At its core, this is a reminder that everyone is human, and everyone deserves to be treated well. Third and finally, growth as a leader comes from your ability to self-reflect. Remember: you're already a leader, it's about improving that next little bit."

2021 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Winner

Morris Huang

Morris Huang (Year 4, MSE + PEY Co-op) has been selected as the first winner of the Troost ILead Difference Maker Award. As the Senior Managing Director of the education non-profit Global Spark over the past 4 years, Morris has built the organization to educate and mobilize 10,000+ university students across the world in global development and social entrepreneurship.

Morris has strong interests in education, social impact, and public policy. He aims to combine his passions for technology, policy, and multidisciplinary problem solving to create an inclusive and equitable education system where all learners have the access to the tools, resources, materials, support, and community they need. In his spare time, Morris enjoys swimming, badminton, meditating, playing guitar and travelling.

Read the full interview with Morris, the first Troost ILead Difference Maker Award winner.

2021 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Finalists

Ramanpreet Chauhan

Preet is a 4th Year Civil Engineering student who aspires to make a difference in the world by empowering women in the vulnerable portions of our society. She grew up in a rural village in Northern India where she experienced challenges that millions of people around the globe face today. Her aspiration to help women combined with her passion for the renewable energy sector motivates her to empower women through clean energy initiatives. She has attained a Sustainable Energy minor, which helped her gain a holistic view of the global energy systems, along with the challenges faced by underserved populations around the globe. She has also received a certificate in Engineering Leadership, and she aims to utilize her engineering skills to make this world a better place for everyone.

“In 20 years, I want to be able to look back at my life and say that I did everything in my power to live up to my fullest potential and help as many people as I could along the way.”

Preet is strongly committed to using her Civil Engineering knowledge to benefit people around the world. She strives to see beyond herself, to reach out, and to identify with others at a personal level. She believes that focusing on strong communication skills, and approaching all situations with modesty and professionalism are the keys to her present and future success.

Axel Del Castillo

Axel Del Castillo is a 4th Year + PEY Materials Engineering Student at the University of Toronto. During his childhood, he accompanied his mother, who served as a dentist, to rural communities in the highlands and coast regions of Ecuador. Through visiting these rural communities, he observed the pollution from the extraction of minerals and petroleum and its effects on the health of locals. This experience motivated him to study for a career which would allow him to create sustainable materials that decrease the pollution generated by the extraction of their raw materials, industrial processing, and disposal. He came to Canada to pursue a Bachelors degree in Materials Engineering at UofT financed by a student loan from his home country. However, his student loan was cancelled after his first year of study leaving him without financial support to continue his education. He overcame this challenge by working on and off campus while studying. He received financial aid from his brother, the University of Toronto, and generous donors from a GoFundme campaign created for his last term.

His professional experiences have given him the opportunity to apply his leadership skills, developed through events hosted by the Troost ILead. In return, he learned how to work in teams in a fast paced workplace, and how to inspire people to become their best selves. Axel truly believes that he is an instrument of positive change and inspiration, so he became a mentor in the MSE mentorship program and the 4th year Class Representative.

One of Axel's long-term goals is to launch a company that focuses on the research and development of sustainable materials. In the upcoming years, he plans to pursue a graduate degree to specialize in biocomposites, and expand his professional network to help him realize these long-term goals. He plans to return to his country in future to become an educator to teach and inspire the future generations of Ecuadorian engineers to build a more sustainable country.

Alicia Hill-Turner

Alicia is a 4th Year Chemical Engineering Student whose mission is to empower girls and non-binary youth to break through the barriers which prevent them from pursing engineering careers. Aliciaplans to leverage the power of social media to create a female empowerment program which supports the development of girls' confidence through building leadership skills and disrupting the negative stereotypes that surround females in engineering.

As a student, Alicia was an active member of the U of T Engineering community joining several clubs such as You're Next Career Network (YNCN), Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), and as a Subcommittee Co-Chair for Orientation Week. However, her greatest contribution to student life has been through her involvement in the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineers over the past four years. Most recently, as Chair of the club Alicia led a team of 15 to provide professional development opportunities to 670+ chemical engineering students. Moreover, Alicia implemented a data-driven approach to track student analytics during events, resulting in a restructuring of branding and content to meet student body needs. After graduation Alicia will begin work as a Consultant for ZS Associates with future aspirations to one day complete an MBA and start her own company.

Molly McGrail

Molly is an EngSci 2T0 + PEY (Infrastructure Option). She has spent her time at U of T trying to understand the intersection between technology, policy, and people – particularly as it relates to building more equitable, climate-resilient communities. Her undergraduate thesis with Dr. Shoshanna Saxe studied policy and design strategies for resource-efficient intensification in Toronto's residential neighbourhoods; other topics she's investigated include infrastructure-induced gentrification, permafrost thaw effects on vulnerable housing, and pedestrian safety in low-income areas. Through extra-curricular activities, she had the privilege of joining larger communities of students passionate about using their technical skills to create positive change, and she had the joy of working with them to grow as engineers, leaders, and human beings.

Molly plans to continue engaging in social and environmental impact work and challenging others to do the same. She would like to explore the barriers between engineering and governance, support fellow engineers in non-technical learning and growth, and generally be a nuisance to every organization that employs her by constantly asking tough questions about what they're designing, why they're designing it, and who they're designing it for.

Eric van Velzen

Eric is graduating from the Aerospace specialization in the Engineering Science program with a Certificate in Engineering Leadership. Eric spent several years in leadership roles on the University of Toronto Aerospace Team’s Space Systems division, which is a student team that builds and launches small spacecraft. During his time on the team Eric has filled many roles including technical, leadership, and mentorship, while fostering his interest in space systems engineering.

Eric is also completing his undergraduate thesis research project which has been supervised by Dr. Olechowski and conducted in partnership with industry. His work investigated the impact of remote work on aerospace systems engineers in industry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. A paper he wrote on his research was accepted for publication to the INCOSE 2021 International Symposium conference.

In the fall of 2021 Eric will begin his Master of Applied Science degree at U of T’s Space Flight Laboratory where he will join projects to design and deliver small spacecraft to organizations around the world. Through this apprenticeship-style degree, Eric will make contributions to the small spacecraft industry while receiving engineering training for state-of-the-art space missions.

Troost ILead Difference Maker Award

About The Award

Award Criteria

Engagement

Experience

Academics

Character

Vision

Award Info Session

Submission Requirements

1. Statement of Purpose:

2. Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume:

3. Unofficial Transcript:

4. Two Testimonial Letters:

2023-2024 Application Deadline: Nov 7, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.

What’s Next?

Questions?

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Advice to emerging leaders:

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