Waterloo co‑op students build practical AI tools for local SMEs through Communitech’s AI@Work

Over a recent co‑op term, Waterloo students partnered with regional SMEs via Communitech’s AI@Work to develop applied AI solutions. At Musselman Excavating, a team including Bilal Alberzreh (Systems Design Engineering) and Dishita Chawla (Computational Mathematics) produced a human‑in‑the‑loop system that parses emails and assembles project packages; active processing dropped from 15–25 minutes to about one minute, and package assembly from 15–20 minutes to roughly two. At Hauser Industries, a quoting engine led by Kanika Prajapati (Management Engineering) cut estimate times in half. The program continues this fall, expanding student–employer collaborations.