Real change is coming to UW, spurred on by the initiatives of winners from WUSA’s recent Change Engine Competition. The competition took place on Jan. 23 and united student-led initiatives to tackle important issues such as mental health, sustainability, and access to resources and safety. The competition included three streams, where each winner received three one-hour mentorship sessions with professionals, networking opportunities, and publicity on WUSA’s social media and website.

The stream two winner is first year computer science student Dev Katyal, won $3,000 for his EcoPlastic AI mobile application. Katyal’s EcoPlastic AI project is an interactive software that attempts to address the growing problem of plastic waste and encourages sustainable recycling methods. Users can upload a picture of their plastic waste on the app to get real-time disposal advice. In addition, the app has instructional modules, quizzes, and rewards for scanning items with the long-term objective of reducing campus plastic waste by 30 per cent in three years. 

Katyal was inspired when he found out from Oceana Canada that Canada currently uses 4.6 million tonnes of plastics every year — roughly 125 kilograms per person. He said that only 10 per cent of garbage is being recycled, while the rest ends up in landfills. “I knew that there had to be a better way to spread awareness about this issue,” he said.  

Katyal started working on his app months before the competition, dedicating hours to planning and designing. “Building an app is really hard. It takes a lot of hard work. My research included interviewing 50 students, which revealed a surprising problem: many students didn’t know what items could be recycled, a simple yet pervasive issue that EcoPlastic aims to solve.” EcoPlastic allows users to scan any plastic item, such as a water bottle and the app instantly identifies the material and provides proper recycling instructions. “The app uses AI technology to achieve 70-90 per cent accuracy in determining the recyclability of items. It tells you exactly where it should be recycled,” Katyal stated.

Katyal expressed that marketing the app was the biggest hurdle in his mission. “The hardest part was not building the app, but actually marketing it. Despite having a great product, attracting users required a strategic effort,” he said. He explained how he turned to Instagram, where he had already garnered over 1,000 followers. He focused on creating engaging content to raise awareness about the app. “I realized that original content like funny skits works better than paid ads,” he said. 

Katyal plans to use the funds from the competition to cover the costs of rewards and marketing initiatives. In addition to Instagram, he has also launched a website and the app is close to launching. “I’m thinking of running on-campus marketing events, like setting up tables in the SLC and putting up posters. By engaging students directly, I hope to increase awareness and drive adoption of the app,” he said.

Stream three winner is fourth year planning student Katie Traynor, who got $1,000 for her campus safety enhancement project, which focuses on student safety, especially for those who walk alone at night. The plan suggests greater lighting, increased surveillance, and an expanded WalkSafe program to identify and improve high-risk areas on campus, making UW a more safe and welcoming place for all students.

Traynor emphasized how the project idea came to her during her time as WUSA vice-president, where she worked with the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance (OUSA) to explore campus safety issues. “I did a lot of work with OUSA, and we really looked at what campus safety looked like. I noticed that the University of Waterloo lacked a WalkSafe program, while other institutions such as [Wilfrid Laurier University] and Queen’s University had successfully implemented similar initiatives,” Traynor said. She wanted to make the students’ strong desire to feel safe on our campus a reality. “A student approached me after the hate-motivated attack at Hagey Hall, expressing feelings of insecurity and requesting the reinstatement of the WalkSafe program. This inspired me to take the initiative to enhance our campus safety,” she said. 

The process of developing her project included using the WUSA RSP survey for student safety and mental health. The survey provided valuable data on student safety concerns, focusing on areas like comfort and travel methods. “It talked about how students relate safety to comfort, travel methods, connection and belonging. The survey’s results, along with student feedback I collected during my leadership roles at WUSA, shaped the framework for the project,” she stated. The use of research is aimed at having a more proactive approach rather than a reactive approach to safety on campus. She hopes to pilot the WalkSafe program during the fall orientation of 2025. 

Traynor expressed that her biggest challenge with creating the project was time commitment and understanding what different student groups wanted to see. She stated, “There was difficulty in balancing the demands of communication, planning, and marketing the project.” Despite these problems, she remains dedicated to her cause, sharing,  “I’m excited to take on the challenge and bring student safety to the forefront of a lot of WUSA’s work and campus conversations.”

Traynor plans to use the funds from the competition to help launch the pilot program and gather valuable student feedback. “Since I have a limited budget of only $1,000, most of the funding will be invested back into the WalkSafe program and the student leaders helping me with it. The budget will cover resources such as safety vests, walkie-talkies, and phone lines for the program,” Traynor explained. The funding will also be used for surveys and focus groups to ensure that the program reflects the needs of the student body. Traynor hopes to address the ongoing safety concerns on campus, while also encouraging student involvement with this project. “I want this pilot program and the research that I’m doing to really be the vision of students,” Traylor said, underscoring her commitment to representing the voices of those who feel unsafe on campus.

Stream one winners, Jocelyne Murphy and Christopher Oka, both fifth year systems engineering students, won $5,000 for their project Mystery Events for Social Connection (WYGO). WYGO hosts “mystery events” in an effort to fight student loneliness. These gatherings encourage natural social interactions by including attendees in activities they aren’t aware of beforehand. WYGO gives individuals the tools they need to go from being passive attendees to actively creating communities through coaching and mentoring.