Sheridan celebrates top co-op and work-integrated learning students and employers

Less than two weeks after graduate Eidah Jauforally and student Quinlin Lawrynowicz were named national college co-op and work-integrated learning (WIL) students of the year, Sheridan celebrated them and other standout students with its annual Co-op, WIL and EL Student of the Year Awards Tuesday at the Sheridan Conference Centre.

The awards ceremony, hosted by Sheridan's Career-Integrated Learning (C-IL) department in collaboration with the college's five Faculties, recognized achievements of 15 co-op, WIL and experiential learning (EL) students who completed work terms in 2024 and made significant contributions to their place of work and beyond.

Sheridan is home to one of the largest co-op programs in Canada, having offered co-op and WIL opportunities in many of its programs for decades. Each of the college's programs currently include at least one course with an experiential learning (EL) component, and more than 90 programs incorporate at least one form of WIL.

Sheridan entrants have won a Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada) co-op or WIL award in three of the last five years, seven of the last 10 and nine of the last 13. Since 2012, 27 Sheridan students or graduates have been recognized at the national or provincial level for exceptional contributions to co-op, WIL and experiential learning.

"Thousands of our students engage in co-op, WIL and EL experiences each year, but your experiences and stories stood out among them all," Joanne Islip, Director, Career-Integrated Learning, told award winners during the ceremony. "Each of you purposefully chose to use your co-op, WIL and EL experiences as a powerful tool to shape your future and become the person you aspire to be. Your dedication and hard work have set you on a path of continuous growth and success, demonstrating the true impact of work-integrated and experiential learning."

The event also honoured five industry partners identified by staff and students for going above and beyond to provide students with valuable and enriching work experiences that add to their overall learning goals and career developments. Employer award recipients included London, Ont.-based video game developer Digital Extremes; the City of Mississauga; Unity Health Toronto; PLASP Child Care Services; and Purolator.

Read on for more details about each of Sheridan's 2024 co-op, WIL and EL student of the year award recipients:

Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design (FAAD)

Emily McAllister (Interior Decorating)

FAAD WIL Student of the Year - Field Placement

Emily excelled as a junior design assistant during her field placement at Heritage Kitchen and Bath, earning rave reviews from her employer. She worked closely with clients to create functional and aesthetically pleasing spaces, collaborating with contractors, suppliers and team members to ensure projects were completed on time and within budget. Her exceptional contributions included personalized design approaches, building strong client relationships and introducing a new client approval system that improved efficiency and customer satisfaction. Emily's impact extended beyond her workplace to the Sheridan community, where she shared her experiences with peers and participated in industry events.

Kaitlyn Way (Honours Bachelor of Experiential Design)

FAAD WIL Student of the Year - Internship

Kaitlyn demonstrated exceptional dedication and creativity during her internship with Secret City, an immersive escape experience company. She made significant contributions across multiple projects, including redesigning wayfinding systems and designing her own puzzle for an escape room. Kaitlin's versatility extended to other tasks as well, such as creating social media puzzle posts, appearing on TikTok, and handling orders for The Perfect Bite experience in collaboration with Netflix. As part of the pioneering first cohort of Sheridan's Experiential Design degree, Kaitlyn co-founded the Experiential Design Student Association and has served as president for three years. She has also worked as a Trafalgar Campus student ambassador and Art Fundamentals mentor.

Rubiat Fusigboy (Honours Bachelor of Interaction Design)

FAAD Experiential Learning Student of the Year

Rubiat is the inaugural recipient of Sheridan's Experiential Learning Student of the Year award, which recognizes a student who excelled in a classroom experiential learning activity that counts toward course credit. In addition to exceeding classroom expectations, taking on a leadership role and demonstrating personal growth, Rubiat impacted her classmates, the broader Sheridan community and even industry by turning her Interaction Design thesis project into an interactive experience at the 2024 Adobe Max Conference.

Faculty of Science and Technology (FAST)

Dylan Law (Computer Systems Technology - Software Development and Network Engineering)

FAST-Computing Renee St. Denis Co-op Student of the Year

When Dylan began his co-op at RBC, he was one of three developers working on a project to automate firewall management using security policy platform AlgoSec. By the end of his co-op, he had taken over the entire project, saw it to completion, won an internal co-op competition, presented the project to RBC senior executives, and was hired full-time by the company as a cyber security analyst. Dylan's stellar co-op experience also earned him an honourable mention in the Experiential & Work-Integrated Learning Ontario (EWO) provincial co-op student of the year contest.

Prachi Jaiswal (Honours Bachelor of Applied Information Sciences [Cyber Security])

FAST- Computing WIL Student of the Year - Internship

Prachi is currently in her final year of study in the Honours Bachelor of Applied Information Sciences (Cyber Security) program after completing an eight-month internship as a security specialist with Soroc Technology. While at Soroc, Prachi's accomplishments included developing a phishing awareness program that increased staff adherence to security training by 30 per cent. She's also participated in various extra-curricular activities at Sheridan, such as the ISSessions Club, Hackathons, Sheridan's S-Sense project and the CIL-SAG student group that provides feedback to Sheridan's Career-Integrated Learning team.

Daniel Ta (Honours Bachelor of Engineering [Mechanical Engineering])

FAST- Engineering WIL Student of the Year - Co-op

As a Sheridan student research assistant, Daniel contributed to a research project focusing on design and energy management of a novel greenhouse. He created a MATLAB model that became the cornerstone for further analysis, and his professional reporting and presentations helped the team deliver high-quality deliverables to stakeholders. Daniel's initiative and commitment to exceeding expectations have made significant impact, and he plans to continue this project for his next co-op work term this spring.

Jorge Vassalo Sales Goz (Urban Design)

FAST- Engineering WIL Student of the Year - Field Placement

Jorge worked as a 3D modeller during his field placement with the City of Toronto's Urban Design and Planning Division, where he analyzed new development applications, conducted in-depth evaluations of development impacts and maintained proactive communication with city officials. His work significantly improved the planning department's ability to assess future developments and provided a replicable methodology for urban studies. Jorge was also an active member of the Sheridan and broader communities, participating in design forums, networking events and workshops, and regularly promoted co-op and WIL to fellow students by sharing his experiences through classroom discussions.

Faculty of Applied Health and Community Studies (FAHCS)

Georgia Hamilton (Practical Nursing)

FAHCS WIL Student of the Year - Mandatory Professional Practice

Georgia demonstrated exceptional dedication and skill during her placement in the Emergency Department at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. She excelled in patient care, whether monitoring vital signs or assisting in high-stress situations such as code blues, and stood out for her ability to adapt to dynamic environments and communicate effectively with staff and patients. Georgia also managed to balance her academic responsibilities with her volunteer position with St. John Ambulance as well as a part-time job, setting high standards for herself and consistently showing professionalism and leadership. She was one of Sheridan's nominees for this year's EWO provincial WIL student of the year award.

Michelle Martin (Educational Support)

FAHCS WIL Student of the Year - Field Placement

Michelle completed her field placement at a JK-Grade 6 elementary school, where she worked as an educational assistant. In addition to supporting students in math and language, Michelle played a key role in assessing and documenting necessary supports for a new student with developmental needs. Michelle worked in collaboration with the school's principal, special education resource teacher and other educational assistants to set up a learning space for the new student and collect essential data. In addition, Michelle successfully advocated for a new field placement partnership between Sheridan and the Waterloo Region District School Board, providing new opportunities for future students.

Briar Alderdice (Honours Bachelor of Applied Health Sciences - Athletic Therapy)

FAHCS WIL Student of the Year - Internship

Briar spent her internship with Canada Basketball, working alongside athletic therapists and strength and conditioning coaches at training camps, the national training centre and a multidisciplinary clinic. Her tasks with the Under-17, U18 and senior men's national teams included gathering health data, setting up practices, taping, injury prevention and rehabilitative treatment. Briar's proactive approach and dedication led to the extraordinary opportunity to travel with Canada's senior men's team to Las Vegas for an exhibition game against Team USA, where she was entrusted with running the bench during the game — providing hydration, towels, warm-up gear and other supports to players.

KC Barron (Honours Bachelor of Social and Community Development)

FAHCS WIL Student of the Year - Internship

KC completed more than 400 hours of community work during his internship with LetsStopAIDS, Canada's largest youth-driven HIV charity. Serving as a youth HIV peer educator and then as a youth program coordinator, KC facilitated workshops on safe sex and harm reduction within the GTA. He also led outreach efforts and facilitated workshops in Saskatchewan, addressing the province's high HIV rates and engaging with youth on their experiences with sexual education. Additionally, KC applied his skills to a Sheridan research project on sexual violence services for transgender and non-binary students, and is working on implementing student-led workshops on sexual violence.

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (FHASS)

Luigi Sposato (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)

FAHCS WIL Student of the Year - Field Placement

Luigi excelled in both in-person and online teaching roles during his professional practice placement, leading English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and Advanced English Second Language (ESL) Listening and Speaking classes. Luigi's impact at Sheridan extended beyond the classroom as he reassured students, reinforced their dreams and welcomed everyone regardless of their cultural background. Luigi is now a professor in Sheridan's ESL program, where he is known for an empathetic teaching approach that fosters mutual respect and understanding.

Quinlin Lawrynowicz (Honours Bachelor of Creative Writing & Publishing)

FAHCS WIL Student of the Year - Internship

During his four-month internship with the Inflamed Brain Alliance, Quinlin created a new program designed for individuals and families dealing with the challenges of PANS and PANDAS, autoimmune conditions that affect central nervous system function. He went above and beyond by creating impactful videos that raised awareness and encouraged donations, significantly contributing to the organization's success. His innovative approach and commitment to raising awareness through social media resulted in significant community impact, achieving more than 75,000 views. Quinlin's incredible contributions were recognized with national and provincial college work-integrated learning student of the year awards from Co-operative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL Canada) and EWO, respectively.

Pilon School of Business (PSB)

Kellie Ong Li Li (Office Administration - Health Services)

PSB WIL Student of the Year - Field Placement

Kellie was recognized for her placement experience with Credit Valley Hospital's Regional Nephrology Clinic, where she provided excellent customer service to patients. Kellie received a glowing evaluation from her supervisor for her work ethic, initiative to take on new tasks with enthusiasm, and eagerness to be part of the team. During her time at Sheridan, Kellie was also a valuable contributor as a student ambassador, promoting the college during campus tours and Open House events. She is now working full-time with Trillium Health Partners.

Eidah Jauforally (Business Administration - Accounting)

PSB WIL Student of the Year - Co-op

Eidah's co-op journey included work terms at two of the 'Big Four' accounting firms, PwC and KPMG — both of whom selected her to represent them at speaking events. While with PwC, Eidah contributed to audit engagements and financial analysis across multiple industries, and she also played a key role in the company's Muslim Inclusive Network by organizing events to promote cultural awareness and inclusion. Eidah shared her passion for WIL to fellow Sheridan students as well, presiding over the Sheridan Accounting Student Association and serving as a CPA Ontario Board of Ambassadors representative. Eidah was named CEWIL Canada's national college co-op student of the year earlier this month and received an honourable mention for EWO's provincial college co-op student of the year award.

— Pictured in body of story are Matt Rempel, Associate Vice Provost, Academic and Industry Integrations; and Dr. Elizabeth Fabbroni, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science and Technology. Student headshots submitted; all other photos by Ryan Kelly, Sheridan staff

Visit Sheridan's Career Services webpage to learn more about how Sheridan provides career education for current students and supports recent graduates and alumni in starting their career. To learn more about co-op and WIL at Sheridan, visit Cooperative Education.