Meet UM’s 2025 Schulich Leaders
Schulich Leader Scholarships are awarded to first-year STEM students at partner universities across Canada. Winning one of these awards is no small feat – recipients must demonstrate outstanding academic performance, a record of achievement, passion for their field, and exemplary leadership in their communities. Every year, two incoming University of Manitoba students in engineering or sciences receive these prestigious awards. In Fall 2025, UM is proud to welcome Schulich Leaders Kushman Buttar and Ayla Thomas!
Kushman Buttar
Buttar is bringing a broad range of experience with her into the Price Faculty of Engineering this fall. Throughout high school at Maples MET School, she dedicated her time outside classes to join and lead community initiatives, research projects, and extracurricular computer science programs. Now, as a Schulich Leader, she is taking her passions to the next level at UM.
As dedicated learner and leader, Buttar jumps into new projects and creates new opportunities for those in her community when she sees a need. She fostered her computer science skills by participating in several different programs and contests, including the High School Big Data Challenge, Technovation Girls Challenge, Shad Canada, and Girls Who Code. Additionally, she has ventured into the world of sustainability and environmental innovation, working with engineers at Manitoba Hydro on energy solutions and studying ecosystems at the University of Manitoba. She even spearheaded a prairie landscape renewal initiative in her community. Over the course of three years, she led a team of peers planting over 400 native plants across her school grounds, and she involved the broader community by leading workshops with local elementary school students.
Buttar credits her achievements to her mindset, which is geared towards change, growth, and persevering through setbacks. Her leadership style is entrepreneurial, and her goal is to be an engineer who develops new technologies that serve people, communities, and the environment, which she can introduce as cost-effective solutions in the Canadian market. As Schulich Leader and engineering student at the University of Manitoba, she is well on her way to that goal.
Ayla Thomas
Thomas, a 2025 graduate of Balmoral Hall School, is joining the physics department at the university this fall. Her innate curiosity and enthusiasm for learning have led her to explore a wide variety of scientific pursuits. Throughout high school, she sought out extra learning opportunities, attending university lectures, teaching herself coding, volunteering at the Manitoba Museum’s Science Gallery, and more.
Thomas’ involvement in her school’s robotics team highlights not only her expertise in robotics, but also her leadership skills. She served as the team’s Programming Lead, using creativity and critical thinking to debug code and come up with tournament strategies. She also served a community-building role on her team, encouraging collaboration and drawing from her teammate’s strengths. As evidence of her exceptional leadership abilities, Thomas’ team was recognised for spirit, professionalism, teamwork, and engagement in their 2024 robotics competition. Then, in 2025, they were recognized for connecting with the local STEM community.
As a self-identifying community citizen, Thomas’ ability to turn her passions into community initiatives is one of her greatest strengths. For instance, at Balmoral Hall she produced several videos to express her appreciation for high school robotics, including an entire documentary on the subject. She also employed her skillset as a member of the stage crew for her school musical, helping to design props and sets. In the wider community, she put her technical expertise to use by working on the Tech Crew at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Thomas consistently finds ways to transfer her creativity and problem-solving skills from STEM to communities in the arts.
At the University of Manitoba, Thomas intends to build her knowledge in physics, robotics, and computer science, with a special interest in their applications for aerospace engineering. In particular, she is pursuing more energy-efficient and renewable methods of space exploration. As Thomas continues to advance her learning and grow as a leader, UM is proud to support her.
Congratulations, Schulich Leaders! We wish you success in your studies.