2024 Award Recipient - Matthew Chow

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Matthew Chow

Computer Engineering

After providing outstanding contributions in his Co-op workplace, and a continued commitment to building student engagement on campus, we are excited to announce that Matthew Chow is the recipient of the 2024 UBC Applied Science Co-op Student of the Year Award. 

Matthew is an undergraduate student in his third year of the Computer Engineering program. He has specialized in embedded software and has 12 months of co-op experience where his contributions have had real-world impact, with his work now deployed across vehicles, energy systems, and robotics globally. From working on clean energy software simulations at Generac Holdings in Vancouver, to building automotive firmware for Tesla’s Cybertruck, and launching self-flying drones at Zipline in San Francisco, Matthew has gained diverse and abundant work experience through the co-op program.

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“When I first got to UBC, the thought of co-op education was a distant, almost intimidating concept. Joining the co-op program became a pivotal decision, propelling me beyond my comfort zone, providing opportunities to learn from industry professionals, and preparing me for the competitive challenges of today’s job market. Co-op education has been a cornerstone of my development, significantly impacting my academic and personal journey. Professionally, my placements helped me understand the complexities of embedded systems engineering and have taught me how to solve problems on a production scale. Today, my software is controlling cars, drones, and energy systems around the world used by real people. These experiences taught me about real-world engineering, cross-functional projects, and the responsibilities of developing reliable and safety-critical systems.”

Most recently at Zipline, a company that designs, manufactures, and operates the world’s largest drone delivery service, Matthew joined the energy firmware team responsible for designing, implementing, and testing the software that controls Zipline’s custom hardware. He made significant contributions by launching firmware for production systems, integrating software with critical teams, and building embedded systems. His firmware ultimately got launched into the company’s manufacturing end-of-line station in California as well as their production battery setting in Malaysia.

At the UBC Vancouver campus, Matthew has worked as a Technical Director at the IEEE UBC Chapter to launch Innovent – a multi-disciplinary competition which partnered with UBC Biztech and featured industry professionals and founders. This event focused on providing students with electrical and mechanical prototyping equipment to explore innovative ideas over a three-day period. He also worked with the Cansbridge Fellowship, one of Canada’s top youth leadership accelerators, as the UBC Ambassador to organize a student conference focused on career exploration and global work experiences.

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From his Team Lead at Zipline: “What stood out was Matthew’s contributions to the team by taking on additional work and seeking out problems to improve the organization. While working on his main projects, Matthew also built out a software tool to enable engineers to interact with drone batteries. He took this on after communicating with electrical engineers and mechanical engineers to understand larger problems and inefficiencies of the team. The software tool was used every day by firmware engineers during critical launch periods of the company to speed up their work and provided helpful functionality. This led to design iterations for improved quality and functionality. Matthew’s work was highly impactful for our product launch phase.”

Matthew’s non-technical impact on Zipline as also noted by his Team Lead: “Beyond our team, Matthew’s contribution to the culture and internship program was outstanding. While working in San Francisco, Matthew planned several activities, events, and trips that showed his well-roundedness and care for community. Matthew lives the concept of building communities wherever he goes.”

Congratulations, Matthew!

Matthew Chow
UBC Undergraduate Computer Engineering Student