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The annual Snowball Gala is a highly anticipated event for computer science students, faculty members, staff, and industry professionals. The evening highlights the achievements and inspiration within the computer science community, and this year’s event was no exception.

Dressed in their finest attire, students, faculty, staff, and industry figures filled the HÂþ»­ University Student Union Building. The gala showcased the incredible teamwork between two student societies: the Computer Science Society (CSS) and the Women in Technology Society (WiTS). As the largest Snowball Gala to date, their combined efforts and hard work certainly paid off making it a memorable and successful event.

The Computer Science Society and Women in Tech Society (Boyd Santos).

Celebrating the tech community

The gala began with the announcement of the winners of various industry awards, recognizing exceptional achievements across different sectors of computer science and academia. From demonstrating leadership as a role model to fostering growth in the tech community, the winners truly embodied what it means to be a tech-focused leader.

The industry awards were presented by several well-known companies in the tech community, including Dash Hudson, Digital Nova Scotia, MDA Geointelligence, and Mobia. The Faculty of Computer Science was also honored to have several more awards generously funded by the Leacross Foundation, recent alum, Arvin Ramlakhan, and several other contributors.

Members from Digital Nova Scotia presenting the Digital Nova Scotia Access Award (Boyd Santos).

Throughout the evening, the audience was captivated by keynote speeches delivered by current students, alumni, and faculty. Each speaker shared their insights, personal experiences, and visions for the future of technology.

Key takeaways

With nearly 300 attendees, the 2024 Snowball Gala showcased the amazing possibilities of technology and recognized the hard work students pour into both their studies and the tech community. As everyone left the gala, they carried with them a simple yet powerful message: keep pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

2024 Snowball Award Winners  

• Leadership Award: Seif ELBayomi
• Citizenship Award: Bhavya Kapoor, Simran Arora, Desai Bhishman
• Ada Byron Award: Lauren Timmens
• Dr. Arthur Sedgwick Award: Keaton Brown
• Dr. Morven Gentleman Award: Sofia Rincon Parada
• The Rossetti Bronze Award: Yuan Wang, Weiliang Jiao, Carly Mott
• The Rossetti Silver Award: Mahdeen Abrar, Hamza Wahed
• The Rossetti Gold Award: Gobind Preet Singh, Tyler Herritt, Jason Jee, William Watson
• MDA Geointelligence Scholarship for Excellence in Computer Science: Parth Doshi
• Arvin Ramlakhan Scholarship for Change Champions: Anna Schamper
• Dash Hudson Scholarship: Sandra Surendran Thadathil
• Mobia - Greg Kamermans Memorial Award: Brijesh Bharatbhai Varsani
• Digital Nova Scotia Access Award: Chris Edgett
• Leacross Foundation Leadership Scholarship: Eliza Fraser, Arlo Bannon, Shuting Xie, Simran Arora
• The Srini Award for Teaching Excellence: Dr. Alex Brodsky
• The Staff Appreciation Award: Kewoba Carter
• The Best TA Award: Sigma Jahan