University of Guelph Statistics Students Shine at Annual National Event
University of Guelph graduate students in mathematics and statistics earned multiple top honours during the May 30–June 3 conference period, with notable representation at both the 2026 Canadian Statistics Student Conference (CSSC) and the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC), reflecting a strong and competitive showing among peers from across the country.
Among the award recipients were:
- Alexia Furtado (M.Sc., Applied Statistics) – 1st Prize, Master’s Oral Presentation
- Zoya Zaman (M.Sc., Applied Statistics) – 2nd Prize, Master’s Oral Presentation
- Vinay Joshy (M.Sc., Applied Statistics) – 3rd Place, Master’s Poster Presentation
- Luis Miguel Roldan (PhD, Applied Statistics) – Business and Industrial Statistics Section Best Student Oral Presentation*
* Presented at the annual SSC meeting; all other students presented at CSSC.
All four students are part of the University’s applied statistics programs and conducted their research under the supervision of faculty members Dr. Khurram Nadeem, Dr. Zeny Feng and Dr. Elif F. Acar. Their award-winning work spans a range of contemporary statistical challenges, including wildfire risk analysis, high-dimensional biological data and methods for identifying outliers in complex datasets.
Held as part of the Statistical Society of Canada’s annual national meeting, the CSSC brings together graduate students from across Canada to present research and compete for top honours. In 2026, U of G students stood out not only for the number of awards they received, but for the breadth and depth of their contributions across multiple categories.
Each of the award recipients also received a Brainwaithe Travel Grant.
The results point to the continued strength of the University of Guelph’s mathematics and statistics community.
