Roberto Aurilio
2020/2021
My name is Roberto Aurilio, and I am writing to you to express my appreciation as the recipient of the 2020 Tac Foundation scholarship sponsored by CCIL. I was more than ecstatic to receive the good news that I had been selected for the award. I wanted to personally thank both you and the Canadian Council of Independent Laboratories for your generosity in supporting my education as well as my passion for research and academia.
In January, after almost a year and a half of dedicated work with the Centre of Pavement and Transportation Technology at the University of Waterloo, I officially transitioned into the Accelerated PhD from my MASc program. As an Accelerated PhD student, I am fortunate enough to not only continue my work from my MASc on self-healing asphalt, but dive deeper into the minutia of novel self-healing materials and characterization methods for asphalt materials. And although my laboratory progress has been slowed by the current pandemic, I’ve been able to use this time to prepare for my Comprehensive Exam scheduled in early September 2020 for my thesis entitled, Non-Invasive Self-Healing Characterization of Aged Modified Asphalt Materials.
Again, I am so grateful to have received this generous award; this scholarship will give me the opportunity to focus on my research and pursue a degree I love without as many financial worries.