Project Pulse Winnipeg
2019-2020 Executive Team
Winnica Beltrano
Founder & Principal Advisor
Winnica is a fourth year student at the University of Calgary, pursuing a Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) with a major in Biomedical Science. Winnica was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada in 2002. As a first-generation Canadian, she was challenged to be resourceful at a young age in the face of an environment with limited resources. Winnica founded Project Pulse Winnipeg (PPW) in 2015 because she saw it as an opportunity to increase educational and co-curricular opportunities for students who may be disadvantaged due to uncontrollable factors like their socioeconomic status or upbringing. PPW is now entering its fifth year, and Winnica is always amazed to see how much it continues to impact high school students across Winnipeg every year. Winnica’s favourite part about working with the PPW team is being able to mentor and witness the growth of high school students from a variety of backgrounds - empowering them to dream big and reminding them that there are no limits to what they can accomplish.
As part of her involvement with PPW, Winnica became a recipient of the national 2016 High School Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Scholarship and 2017 Terry Fox Humanitarian Award. While she is grateful for these opportunities to receive financial help for her education, she believes that accolades will always be secondary to the intrinsic fulfillment she feels from giving back to her community in purposeful ways.
Outside of her work with PPW, Winnica is a Community Advisor in residence at UCalgary and a passionate advocate for leadership development and public speaking. Through all that she does, Winnica is always looking for fulfilling and purpose-driven experiences in pursuit of continuous personal growth and lifelong learning. In doing so, she encourages others to never lose sight of their purpose, remain grounded in gratitude, and lead with kindness.
Guneet Uppal
Principal Advisor
Guneet is a first year student in the Faculty of Science at the University of Manitoba. Her interest in STEM and the health sciences was heightened after partaking in various events and initiatives throughout high school -- events like Project Pulse Winnipeg. Guneet attended SHAD 2017 at the University of Calgary and participated as a research intern at the University of Winnipeg, where she conducted experiments on the potential of MRI technology as a tool to measure CNS axon diameters 5 microns or smaller.
Guneet volunteers her time at Seven Oaks General Hospital and with Let’s Talk Science. Passionate about empowering youth through education, she works as a mentor and tutor. Guneet has been honored with the 2019 BMO Leader of Tomorrow Scholarship, which has encouraged her to continue her leadership and community involvement at the University of Manitoba. In her free time, Guneet likes to spend time with her family, paint, and read; She also enjoys going for a run. As she enters her fifth year with Project Pulse Winnipeg, Guneet is excited to apply her experience as Ambassador in 2016, Sponsorships Director in 2017 & 2018 and Co-President in 2019 to plan a conference that will inspire and equip many participants to follow their dreams.
Alandra Barairo
Principal Advisor
Alandra Barairo is a first year university student at the University of Manitoba pursuing a degree in environmental design. Despite going into a different field, she still holds a large interest in researching and believes that Project Pulse allows many high schoolers to branch out and rediscover their passions with the health sciences.
Alandra has been a part of Project Pulse for almost five years. She first helped the team as an ambassador in their first year. Afterwards, she joined the executive team as Events Director and eventually worked as the Sponsorship and Finances Director. Through her time on the executive team, she was able to learn things about the health sciences field that she wouldn’t know in school and make connections with people all over the city. She encourages other students around Winnipeg to participate in Project Pulse as it is an amazing opportunity to grow and meet similar minded students. Alandra hopes that by continuing to be involved with Project Pulse, she will be able to help impact many other high school students in Winnipeg and help them learn more about their passions within the health sciences.
Katrina Lengsavath
President
Katrina is a Grade 12 student at Gordon Bell High School. She has equal interest and admiration for both sciences and arts - hoping to pursue studies that connect neuroscience to music in university. She looks forward to learning about the variety of professions represented at the conference and watch students from around the city explore their interests. Katrina is honoured and eager to take on the role as President in her second year with Project Pulse. She aspires to lead the executive team in planning an event that encourages inclusivity in the world of science, and hopes that the team will finish feeling proud. Katrina was awarded gold medals for projects at her high school and division wide science fairs. She is a passionate triple threat in the performing arts world and was recognized as one of the Grade 11/12 Performers of the Year for 2018/19 at her high school. She also received the Samantha Mason Friendship Award in 2016. Katrina is an Administrative Assistant for Meraki Theatre Productions, and has found joy in interacting with the community and sharing her perspective as the youngest member of the company. As a student athlete, she became co-captain of the varsity girls’ volleyball team and has won ribbons at both jr. and sr. high WSD track meets over the years.
Katherine Dalkie
Professional Panel Director
Katherine is a grade 12 student at St. John’s Ravenscourt School. She loves to be challenged and strives to excel, as she takes various Advanced Placement courses while achieving Govenor’s Honour Roll standing.
Katherine is an active member of her school community, she is a member of her the student council, co-leader her the Green Team, a mentor for inner-city kids through the Youth to Youth program, the captain of the Varsity Girls Soccer Team, as well as an active member of the Community Service Club. She spends her free time away from school volunteering at the Misericordia Hospital and the Winnipeg Humane Society assisting in the Dog Obedience classes.
Katherine has always had a passion for the sciences, but she found her love for biology during a summer program at the University of Toronto, where she learned about human physiology and molecular biology through many lectures and labs.
Katherine attended Project Pulse 2019 and is very excited to be the Professional Panel Director for Project Pulse 2020!
Madhumita Chandrasekaran
University Panel Director
Madhumita Chandrasekaran is a grade 10 student at Fort Richmond Collegiate with a passion for STEM and science research. She has won gold medals at the Manitoba Schools Science Symposium (as well as special and major awards). She has been a delegate to the Canada Wide Science Fair (in 2017 and 2018), and won a gold medal, as well as the Discovery challenge award, and a special award here. She had the wonderful opportunity of meeting with the Prime Minister, and the Minister of Science regarding her project on recycling used diapers. She has always had an interest in math and science and hopes to pursue this in the future in the field of medical sciences. She believes that Project Pulse Winnipeg, and its goals through the conference will inspire her to gain knowledge about the numerous options in the field, as well as help inspire other students to take the risks that will determine their future!
Bhavya Bhushan
Sponsorship Director
Bhavya is a grade 11 student at Fort Richmond Collegiate enrolled in various honors and Advanced Placement courses. She is extremely excited to be serving as the Sponsorship and Finance Director for her first time on the Project Pulse Executive Team. Bhavya appreciates the sciences as well as has a distinct fascination for mathematics, history and the arts. She has won various gold and silver medals in the Indian Nation Science Olympiad and International English Olympiad and is a Science Olympiad merit holder. She was a bronze medallist at the Indian National Science Fair.
Aside from being an honor roll student throughout her school years, Bhavya has also been actively involved in her school serving as the junior editor for The Scribbler (FRC’s creative arts anthology) and is also a part of various other school clubs like Youth in Philanthropy, Peer Support, Reach For The Top, Student Council, High Altitude Balloon Club, Debate Club, Model United Nations etc. Bhavya is also a student athlete and was trained in Russia prior to becoming a national swimmer in India. Alongside swimming she also plays various other sports including competitive badminton, ultimate, water polo and chess. She was also a national finalist for CBSE Heritage India Quiz in 2017-2018. Painting and drawing includes some her other passions and has been granted with different honors for her work of art. Recently Bhavya was a part of a Summer internship program through the Winnipeg Foundation and was also declared “Villager of the Year” in her schools Peaceful Village Program. In her spare time, Bhavya likes to give back to the community by volunteering at her local food bank as well as spend time with her friends and family.
Bhavya was born and raised in Russia and later moved to India. It was only a year ago that Bhavya along with her parents moved to Canada seeking better opportunities. Growing up she has always been passionate about the sciences and aspires to become a doctor one day. Through Project Pulse, she hopes to create a memorable and knowledgeable experience for everyone.
Voke Ewhrudjakpor
Events Director
Voke Ewhrudjakpor is a grade 11 International Baccalaureate at Kelvin High School. Her favourite subjects include Biology, History and English. Voke is very interested in both the humanities and the sciences and hopes to be able to combine the two in her future career. As of right now she plans to pursue a career in pediatrics.
After attending Shad at the University of British Columbia in July 2019, Voke has solidified her belief in educating youth about different options in the health sciences and various STEM fields. Voke enjoys volunteering within her community and even won a Manitoba School Board Student Citizenship Award in 2016. At her school Voke is apart of the executive team of the Holiday Breakfast, a long running Kelvin event in which the school provides a morning of games, food, and presents for an inner city elementary school. Voke is also a student athlete, playing volleyball and throwing for the track and field team inside and outside of school.
In her free time Voke likes to sing and play the guitar as well as playing the saxophone. She also enjoys spending time with her friends and family. This is Voke’s first year on the Project Pulse Executive team and she is very excited to see how the year turns out! She hopes that the conference can inspire and help educate other students as it inspired and educated her when she attended.
Kristine Shan
Logistics Director
Kristine is a grade 12 International Baccalaureate student at Kelvin High School. She enjoys many science classes where they taught her how the world works around her. Being the second year interacting with Project Pulse Winnipeg; first year as a participant and this year as an executive team member, her goal is to improve skills and seek for more knowledge as she has a goal to pursue a career in health sciences, with great interest in dietetics and nutritions.
Outside of school, she volunteers in the summer at Cancer Care and Folklorama. During the school year, she helps the community such as participating in fundraisers. And she is also helping out with Holiday Breakfast, a Christmas event that takes place at Kelvin where the school provides breakfast, activities, and presents for an elementary school in the city. These have shown her how important communication is, as well as to be more caring of other people.
With an observation as a participant to Project Pulse Winnipeg’s workshop last year, it was great to see that there were professionals who were available to answer questions that help many students when they are unsure. With this said, knowing that some of these answers are so important to many students, she is very thrilled to be part of the executive team of Project Pulse Winnipeg 2020, and is hoping to help more students! She is very excited to bring inspirations to others and hopes that the health sciences education brought by Winnipeg Project Pulse can motivate others to follow their dreams.
Sean Teodoro
Graphics Designer
Sean Teodoro is currently a Grade 12 student at Sisler High School, who is pursuing a career in the medical field. He is passionate about the health sciences, and because of that, he is planning to study in the nursing faculty at the University of Manitoba in the near future. This is Sean’s first year in the executive team as the Graphics Designer, and he is very thrilled to be part of Project Pulse 2020.
Sean has been helping out at St. Joseph’s Nursing home as a recreational volunteer. He has been in the Graphics course of his school for two years now, and it quickly became one of his favourite hobbies, along with basketball, playing the piano, and photography. Sean is also a member of his school’s club, Sisler High Against Cancer. He was one of the photographers during the club’s Spartan Shave event. He hopes to create a whole variety of eye-catching designs for the team this year, so that more people can be inspired to be a part of Project Pulse 2020.
Sean has been a consistent honour roll student for his whole academic life. He was born in the Philippines, and his family moved to Canada a few years ago to seek out better opportunities. He used to be the Student Council President of his middle school, and he has also been a part of many academic competitions.
Elizah Fineza
Marketing and Outreach Director
Elizah Fineza is a Grade 12 student currently enrolled in the French Immersion Program at Kelvin High School. Now in her third year of participating in the program, Elizah seeks to deepen her involvement in the Project Pulse program by being part of the executive team as the Marketing and Outreach Director. Having had an interest in both fields, science, and business, Elizah hopes to further develop her skills in both fields through this experience.
Elizah’s love for the field of health sciences stems from her active involvement in the community in a variety of areas. She is an active volunteer with the Health Sciences Centre and her local church for the past few years. She is also actively involved with her school’s community, a mentor for her school’s mentorship program, a member of the Youth In Philanthropy Club and a member of both her school’s dance and cheer team, where she has the luxury to attend World Cheer Championship this coming year.
Elizah finds joy in socializing and conversing with other people. Having participated in Project Pulse for the past three years, her first year as a participant and last year as an ambassador, Elizah knows how much programs like this can help students with their future life decisions. She hopes to create a welcoming and enjoyable environment for future Project Pulse attendees.