2026 William Muir Edwards Award - Omar Elshimi

Now in the final year of his co-op degree in civil engineering at the University of Alberta, Omar Elshimi remembers being shocked when he was accepted into his desired program. At the time, his marks hadn’t been as high as he thought they needed to be — but fortunately, he made the grade. As a co-op ambassador in the Faculty of Engineering, he often shares this story with other students to encourage them to try their best and to keep moving forward. “I didn’t think I was going to get in, but I ended up getting my first choice,” he says. “Just because you aren’t the top in terms of grades, that doesn’t determine your trajectory.”

Acting as a co-op ambassador is just one of many ways in which Elshimi serves his community, and he enjoys supporting those students as they struggle to choose a path. He’ll help them with their resumes, with selecting classes — and also with general moral support when the way forward feels murky. “Sometimes students think they need to have everything figured out,” he says. “But I tell them as long as you’re doing your part and working hard, there is always a way; you never know what is written for you.”

A man in pursuit of deep faith, Elshimi has also volunteered with the Muslim Students’ Association at the U of A, and on weekends you can find him giving his time as a tutor in Arabic and the Qur’an at the Omar Ibn Al-Khattab Academy in Edmonton’s southeast. While his father — a civil engineer with a PhD — is his biggest inspiration, he also sees Dr. Osama Namaruish, a family physician and the president of the academy, as a mentor. “Dr. Osama’s philanthropy inspires me,” he says. “To help fund the academy, he has sacrificed much of his own time, money and effort for the project.” 

Elshimi has many passions, one of which is calisthenics. Through his own fitness journey, he has become very interested in how the human body works — to the point that he approached researchers in the Department of Biomedical Engineering last year to inquire about learning more. He has since spent a year working, in his own time, on a project led by Dr. Lindsey Westover and Dr. Samer Adeeb, helping to build a tool that can offer non-invasive scoliosis scans in adolescent patients.

At the same time, an experience with a loved one whose illness was eased by medical research showed Elshimi the impact research itself can have, pulling him towards that path.

As Elshimi prepares to apply for graduate school, his vision for the future is greatly influenced by the mentors he has known. “I imagine myself being able to serve people through my career, and also use my career to help my community more broadly by building legacy projects,” he says.

Named in honour of the Faculty of Engineering’s founding professor, the William Muir Edwards Citizenship Award recognizes Engineering at Alberta undergraduate students who have made exceptional contributions to society. It’s a celebration of citizenship and of engineering students who go to extraordinary lengths to make our world a better place. Special thanks to the David Morris Family Foundation for supporting our students and making the William Muir Edwards Citizenship Awards possible.

Do you know an undergraduate student whose volunteerism, contributions, and efforts, both on-campus and off-campus, work to make the world a better place? Learn more about the nomination process.