The Difference Maker Award

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

Beginning in the 2025-26 academic year, application information for the Difference Maker Award has moved.

Please visit the this page for information about how to apply.

Past Winners and Finalists

2025 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Winner

Michelle Lai

Michelle Lai (Year 4 IndE) is the recipient of the 2025 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award.

From a young age, Lai understood the important role educators play in children’s lives.

“When I came to Canada, I didn’t speak any English, and it was quite intimidating,” she says. “My teachers were a very welcoming presence in the classroom. Having them there made me feel a lot more comfortable, and it was the first time I felt how important a trusted adult is in an environment like that.”

While still in elementary school, Lai developed a passion for working with children.

“Every day at lunch, I would go to the kindergarten class to read to the children, chat with them, draw and sing together, and help out however I could. Over those two years, I saw them grow and start to build trust in me. It was the first time I realized I loved working with children,” she says.

Continue reading in the full interview with Michelle Lai, the 2025 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award winner.

2025 Troost ILead Difference Maker Award Finalists

Mustafa Khan

Khan's vision for the future is one where we make significant strides in our fundamental understanding of artificial intelligence while ensuring that its benefits are accessible to all.

To advance this mission, he has gained extensive AI research experience through his work with the Vector Institute, the Toronto Robotics and AI Lab (TRAIL), and the Data Driven Decision Lab (D3M) at U of T. Recently, Khan completed a 16‑month research internship at Huawei’s Noah’s Ark Lab, where he developed AutoSplat, a method to create digital twins of urban driving scenes in order to simulate safety‑critical scenarios. AutoSplat was patented and published at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2025). In addition, Khan co-founded MoveMatch, an AI-powered platform that enhances access to physical therapy by providing exercise and motion tracking for patients.

Khan is widely recognized as a leader and mentor within the U of T community. He has held leadership positions in various organizations, sharing his expertise and values with hundreds of students. Notably, as a long-time member of University of Toronto’s autonomous vehicle team, aUToronto, he joined in 2020 and currently serves as Technical Director of Perception. In this role, Khan oversees the multi-object detection and tracking systems of U of T’s autonomous vehicle and mentors students in conducting AI research, performing real-world engineering, and understanding the impact of their work on the future of mobility.

Khan will graduate from the Division of Engineering Science with a specialization in Robotics in spring 2025. Following graduation, he plans to continue his research in artificial intelligence, aiming for a research role in industry or academia.

Meisa Chen

Chen’s work as an engineer is driven by a passion for building scalable solutions that create positive impact that can reach anyone.

Heavily involved in the U of T community since enrolling here, Chen’s commitment to creating positive impact began locally. However, it was her PEY placement at CPP Investments that truly unlocked her confidence to pursue her passion for building at a much larger scale. Utilizing her spare commute time, Chen developed Recipezy, a machine learning driven mobile app that suggests cooking recipes based on the ingredients available in your fridge. It was through this app that Chen met the Co-Founders of Cache Homes, a startup that builds sustainable, affordable, transforming housing solutions. Chen joined the company as CTO where she now works on designing efficient electrical, heating, sound, and security systems, including innovative algorithm-based systems that help minimize the environmental impact their homes have.

A nominee for Forbes 30 under 30, 2025, Chen utilizes her strong entrepreneurial experience to give back. After receiving mentorship through The Residency, a founders program in San Francisco for young entrepreneurs, she went on to become a mentor herself for a new residency house at Harvard Street Commons for aspiring entrepreneurs in Cambridge, MA. Currently back in Toronto to complete the final year of her undergraduate degree, Chen continues to give back, mentoring high school students looking to begin their own entrepreneurship journeys.

Chen will graduate with a major in industrial engineering and a minor in artificial intelligence in spring 2025. Following her graduation, Chen plans to continue tackling wicked problems such as carbon emissions and unaffordable housing through her work building novel solutions with Cache Homes.

Blythe Huang

Huang’s passion lies in creating meaningful solutions for urgent problems in both healthcare and sustainability, and has built great leadership through national and international design competitions. Her inspirational leadership approach is rooted in three deep set values: a strategic mindset, adaptability and innovation, and the resilience to tackle wicked problems.

Co-Founder of two start-ups, , Huang makes good use of her entrepreneurial skills. In the healthcare space, Anciana is an AI-driven conversational app designed to provide personalized therapy for seniors undergoing post-fall recovery. In the sustainability space, EcoTrack is a food-waste reduction initiative leveraging AI and chemical engineering to help optimize food production and manage waste while providing incentives to users through gamification. EcoTrack was awarded 1st place in 2024 Hack The Globe, a case competition with over 2000 applicants across 30 countries.

In addition to these ventures, Huang has extensive consulting and analytical experience from her time working with Deloitte, where she developed data strategy for multi-million dollar enterprise transformation projects for top Canadian financial institutions. Huang has also worked with AstraZeneca as an Oncology Site Management & Monitoring Analyst and TD Bank as a Business Systems Analyst. She enjoys giving back to the community and has served as a Co-President at University of Toronto Engineering Student Consulting Association (UTESCA), engaging engineering students in pro-bono industry projects and community events. She was also a Senior Strategy Lead at Global Spark, empowering 3,000 students annually to tackle global challenges, and worked with the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation on a project that accelerated oak wilt disease testing.

Huang will graduate with a major in chemical engineering and triple minors in artificial intelligence, bioengineering, and business in spring 2025. Following her graduation, Huang intends to continue creating and scaling initiatives that address urgent social challenges – particularly in healthcare accessibility and food waste.

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Patrick Samaha

Samaha leads with compassion, believing in the power of collective action, the courage to venture into the unknown, and the resilience to rise in the face of adversity. His passion for community-based healthcare, cross-cultural research, and evidence-based engineering fuels his commitment to humanitarian work. With a background in biomedical research and global health, he’s always seeking ways to bring these fields together to create meaningful and sustainable impact.

His engineering journey has unfolded on a global stage—pursuing project internships and civic initiatives across Singapore, Denmark, Switzerland, and most recently, an exchange at UCL in London. Immersed in cutting-edge environments, he has worked alongside world-leading experts and learned from some of the best minds in the world. These experiences have solidified his passion for making meaningful international impact. As one of just ten students selected annually for the 3M National Student Fellowship, Samaha is a strong advocate for the transformative effects that science and philanthropy can have on people’s lives.

Samaha will graduate from the Division of Engineering Science with a specialization in biomedical systems. He aspires to become a global health leader, and hopes to launch a grassroots initiative with the mission to bring the best in cancer care to underserved populations, laying the foundation for a global movement that evolves into an international NGO impacting communities worldwide.

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.