Ace your first co-op and go on to earn university and national honours.

That’s what third-year biology and pharmacology student Emma Adamson-De Luca accomplished when she was named McMaster’s Co-op Student of the Year and a Faculty of Science Co-op Student of the Year in recognition of her outstanding contributions during an eight-month co-op work term at AIMA Laboratories.

In addition to the McMaster and Faculty of Science awards, Adamson-De Luca was one of six university and college co-op students from across the country to receive an honorary mention from Cooperative Education and Work-Integrated Learning, Canada.

“We’ve run out of adjectives to describe Emma and her impact on our company,” said AIMA co-founder Jocelyn Wessels during the Science Career & Cooperative Education celebration at Alumni Memorial Hall.

“Emma was AIMA’s first hire – employee #1 – and she’s set an incredibly high bar not just for our next co-op students but for all our future employees.”

Every day at AIMA Laboratories was an incredible learning opportunity, says Adamson-De Luca, who’s the first Faculty of Science student to receive McMaster Co-op Student of the Year honours.

“This unique experience introduced me to the FemTech industry and commercialization process and cemented my interest in pursuing a career in women’s health. I was fortunate to spend my time working closely with the co-founders who have such a passionate drive to revolutionize the standard of care for endometriosis, which in turn energized me to perform to the best of my abilities.”

“I’m incredibly grateful for the unwavering support of my supervisor and the connections I made during this co-op term.”

Faculty of Science Dean Maureen MacDonald presented the McMaster Co-op Student of the Year Award to Adamson-De Luca during the March 21st celebration and thanked AIMA Laboratories for providing a game-changing co-op experience loaded with opportunities.

“Amazing things happen when you bring together exceptional co-op students like Emma and great employers like AIMA Laboratories,” said MacDonald.

Faculty of Science Co-op Student of the Year Awards were also presented to Julia Azzi for her co-op work term with the Institute for Biopolymers at Hof University of Applied Sciences in Germany and Jaimini Patel for her co-op work term with Health Canada.

Twenty-four students from the Faculty of Science were nominated by their employers for co-op award consideration.

Co-op students in the Faculty of Science completed a record 568 work terms in 2022 and earned more than $4 million. Science Career & Co-operative Education partnered with 180 employers, including 50 new employers last year.