Morris Huang wins Troost ILead Difference Maker Award
Published: April 28, 2021
Morris Huang, a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto, has been named the first recipient of the Troost ILead Difference Maker Award for his leadership through the student-run non-profit, Global Spark.
The $50,000 award was established in 2020 by the Bodhi Tree Fund, a private giving foundation, to support a graduating student with a vision to make a positive difference in their communities and beyond.
Global Spark, which began as Global Engineering Week at U of T in 2017, helps students connect what they learn in the classroom with on-the-ground work in areas such as climate change, renewable energy and, most recently, vaccine distribution. Its material is included in more than 100 courses at eight universities around the world.
“We don’t just want to teach students, we want them to mobilize in tackling some of these big problems by engaging them through course curriculum, implementing new course content, assignments, activities and tutorials,” says Huang.
Global Spark also organizes design competitions, student fairs and Canada’s largest social impact hackathon, Hack the Globe, to help students explore the application of their own global development solutions.
