PAUL BENEDETTI

- WWSEF 1981, 1982, 1985
- CWSF 1981, 1982, 1985

STATUS 2020:
Worldwide Business Services Manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

COMMENT: “I guess you could say that Science brought me all the good things in my life! I have kept contact with Science Fairs and was a judge at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in 2011. I also enjoying volunteering locally.”

BRYON HUGHSON

- WWSEF 1995, 1996, 1999
- CWSF 1995, 1996, 1999
- ISEF 1997

STATUS 2020:
Researching metabolic syndrome and cancer metabolism (post-doctoral, at l'Institut Curie in Paris, France)

COMMENT: “Science Fairs are arguably some of the most important 'investments' in the development of young people; I suppose that one could view science fairs as a type of venture capitalism! The most important advances in technology and medical science have been made by this line of basic discovery research.”

ALISON OLECHOWSKI

- WWSEF 2002
- CWSF 2002

STATUS 2020:
Assistant Professor at U. of Toronto Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering & Troost Institute for Leadership Education in Engineering (ILead)

COMMENT: “At WWSEF and CWSF I was exposed to others from across Canada who were thoughtful about science and engineering, but also fun and interesting. I felt like I belonged.”

PETER FORSYTH

- WWSEF 2003, 2005
- CWSF 2003, 2005

STATUS 2020:
Research Engineer, Borealis AI

COMMENT: “Participating in WWSEF and CWSF sparked my interest in research, which has served me well in my education and career.”

SARAH McCUAIG

- WWSEF 2006
- CWSF 2006

STATUS 2020:
PhD in Medicine from Oxford University, U.K. Rhodes Scholar
Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania

COMMENT: “I run after knowledge and scientific discovery with passion as my fuel.”

BRIAN KRUG

- WWSEF 2007, 2009, 2010
- CWSF 2007, 2009
- ISEF 2010
- Sanofi BioGENEious Challenge 2010

STATUS 2020:
PhD student, McGill University Department of Human Genetics

COMMENT: “I've felt privileged to have the training from these experiences in my grad school research.”

EDDIE KIM

- WWSEF 2006, 2007, 2009
- CWSF 2006, 2007, 2009
- MILSET in Tunisia 2009

STATUS 2020:
Senior Data Scientist at Citrine Informatics (California)

COMMENT: “Science Fairs have served, above all, as a venue for dreaming about big solutions to big problems and then for finding friends who, like you, want to turn those dreams into realities.”

ZACH ELGOOD

- WWSEF 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
- CWSF 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011
- iSWEEEP 2010

STATUS 2020:
Study of alpha'-corrections to the entropy of black holes in superstring theory at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain

COMMENT: “My science fair experience has greatly helped me develop my ability to conduct scientific research, as well as build various connections which were very helpful for future endeavors.”

STEPHANIE CHAN

- WWSEF 2007, 2009, 2011
- CWSF 2009, 2011

STATUS 2020:
Internal Medicine resident in Kingston

COMMENT: “The extracurricular STEM activities that shaped my high school experience (Shad, Science Expo) all started with participating in WWSEF, and the science fair projects I did back then helped to spark an interest in research which continues to this day.”

JEFF GRAANSMA

- WWSEF 2008
- CWSF 2008

STATUS 2020:
Research Lab Technician, Mechatronics Vehicle Systems Lab, University of Waterloo. Supervising graduate students researching self-driving vehicles.

COMMENT: “WWSEF and the CWSF showed me the larger world of science and technology and how I could fit in with my interests. It gave me a perspective on how to narrow my focus.”

SUSIE PAN

- WWSEF 2009
- CWSF 2009
- Sanofi BioGENEious Challenge 2009, 2010

STATUS 2020:
First Product Lead at Borealis AI, RBC Institute for Research, looking at how we implement cutting-edge AI to financial services.

COMMENT: “Science Fair was the reason I co-founded Science Expo, which empowered more than 50,000 students to pursue STEM opportunities. It was where I met my co-founders who have also become lifelong friends.”

VIVIENNE TAM

- WWSEF 2011
- ISEF 2011

STATUS 2020:
Working on a PhD in Materials Engineering at McGill University which involves looking at light-controlled release of chemotherapeutics for brain cancer.

COMMENT: “My curiosity and love for science has definitely sparked from the early introduction I got to scientific inquiry and discussion at high school science fairs like WWSEF. It helped me see that I not only had interesting ideas but I could make those ideas a reality in the lab!”

CHRISTINA DING

- WWSEF 2012
- ISEF 2012

STATUS 2020:
University of Toronto Medical School

COMMENT: “Science fair taught me to always step out of my comfort zone and to try something new even if I think the chance of success is low. From the ISEF journey, I learned that diligent and passionate work brings good results, sooner or later. Sometimes these results come easily, sometimes they take months or even years. My mentors, teachers, and colleagues are so valuable, I couldn't have got to where I am today without them.”

DEVANSHI SHUKLA

- WWSEF 2014, 2015, 2016
- CWSF 2014, 2015, 2016

STATUS 2020:
Doing a Honours Thesis in Microbiology and Immunology, characterizing a mutation that potentially leads to leukemia.

COMMENT: “Science fair gave me the initial inspiration to pursue research and introduced me to a community of bright students that I have made life long connections with.”