Two UBC Engineering students named 2022 Cansbridge Fellows
The Cansbridge Fellowship program has named Coralie Tcheune, a fourth-year UBC biomedical engineering student, and Callum Woznow, a fourth-year UBC mechanical engineering student, as two of its newest fellows.
The program seeks to recognize "Canada's brightest, most ambitious university students" and give them experiences that "maximize their potential, expand their horizons, and compound their strengths". Established in 2011, it selects about 20 new fellows each year.
In addition to joining a large network of "innovators, risk-takers, and leaders from all disciplines", fellows receive a $10,000 scholarship to intern in Asia. The internship part of the Cansbridge program, which has taken past fellows to cities including Tokyo, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta, aims to push students out of their comfort zones and accelerate their personal growth.
New fellows will also take part in a pitch competition, workshops, networking events and social activities at a weeklong bootcamp in Squamish this summer. (Before the pandemic, the bootcamp took place in the San Francisco Bay Area.)
"I'm overjoyed to be joining a group of Canada's most motivated and entrepreneurial students as I start my journey as a Cansbridge Fellow," says Tcheune, who was spotlighted by UBC Applied Science last year. She has received numerous honours and awards and holds multiple leadership roles at UBC.
"I have my future sights set on creating a medical robotics start-up, particularly within the fields of brain-computer interfaces and bionic prosthetics. The fellowship is offering me the unique opportunity to pursue my academic interests, explore a new country and build a lifelong network of the most ambitious leaders."
"I was extremely excited to become a Cansbridge Fellow!" says Woznow, the founder of STRIVE, a student-run technical consultancy where budding engineers can "combine their technical knowledge with business principles to create a successful and dynamic career in today's society."
"My dream is to start a technology company of my own. Working in Asia will give me the global outlook I need to expand my startup beyond Canada's borders and create international opportunities for others."
Previous Cansbridge Fellows have won distinctions such as the Thiel Fellowship and being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30. They have also secured positions with companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft and McKinsey & Company, and founded the startups Wombo, Mosaic Manufacturing and more.
The Cansbridge program is currently supported by seven universities, including the University of Toronto, McGill University and the University of Waterloo.
