Outstanding theses recognized at uOttawa’s Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Engineering
Graduate studies
Civil Engineering
Chemical and Biological Engineering
Awards and recognition
STEM building
The Faculty of Engineering offers two “Best Thesis Awards” to graduate students at the graduate level every year. This year, the recipients are Nada Hegazy (MASc in environmental engineering) and Zachary John Comeau (PhD in chemical engineering).

These awards celebrate the remarkable academic achievements and research contributions made by graduate students at the Faculty of Engineering.

Nada Hegazy: Best Master Thesis Award 2022 

Master’s student Nada Hegazy, whose supervisors are Professor Robert Delatolla and Professor Stephanie Guilherme, has received the Best Master Thesis Award for her thesis, titled “Minimizing Variability of SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Measurements and Advancing the Interpretation of Wastewater Surveillance Data”.  

Nada’s research explores wastewater surveillance as an effective tool for real-time public health monitoring of COVID-19, with the goal of enhancing and expanding the use of wastewater surveillance for population-wide disease surveillance. She says that she finds the “interdisciplinary nature of engineering, epidemiology, and data analysis particularly captivating, offering a unique opportunity to advance scientific understanding and potentially shape public health policy.” 

Nada headshot
Credits: Mary Kassem

Zachary John Comeau: Best PhD Thesis Award 2022

Doctoral student Zachary John Comeau, who is supervised by Professor Benoît Lessard and Professor Adam Shuhendler, has received the Best PhD Thesis Award for his paper titled “Engineering Phthalocyanine-Based Organic Thin-Film Transistors for Cannabinoid Sensing and Chemotyping.”  

His research focused on understanding and developing organic electronic devices as molecular sensors, with the main project centered on detecting and differentiating cannabinoids. Zachary says that through his research, he “hopes to make home health sensors more wildly available for early disease detection and management.” 

Zachary John Comeau headshot

The Faculty congratulates Nada Hegazy and Zachary John Comeau on their well-deserved Best Thesis Awards. These two students have made great contributions in their respective fields and exemplify the influential research conducted at the Faculty of Engineering.