For Abdulla, the Win Is Always Shared

The University of Waterloo Employer Impact Award for Exceptional Supervision isn't handed down by a panel. It's chosen by the co-op students themselves: the ones who worked alongside him, were pushed by him, and felt like someone cared where they were headed. In April 2026, they chose Abdulla Qeblawi.

When he shared the news, his first message wasn't about the award. He congratulated the team and made a point to thank Alex Joyeux directly. “Your mentorship and leadership is 100% what got us here.” That's who Abdulla is at Geotab. 

The Art of Giving Credit

A typical day for Abdulla doesn't exist. The bulk of his time goes to leveling up his team, in whatever form that takes. If a message needs a response, he doesn't fire one off himself. He finds the person who should respond and coaches them through it, sometimes in chat, sometimes by pulling them into a pairing session, a debugging call, or a design discussion.

His time as a professor shaped how he works with co-op students. His mentorship style is simple: "Actually care about people!" He lets students pick what they want to work on from a set of options, then nudges them to expand it, to push their comfort zones until they exceed their own expectations. The accomplishments of others supersede the recognition of the self.

It’s All About the Team

When you ask Abdulla what he's most proud of, he won't mention numbers or projects. “Our biggest accomplishment is how well our team gets along. The best amongst us are the ones that help others get things done.” The moment that stays with him most is one that almost didn't happen. A geotabber was struggling, with performance reviews trending down, and their career at a crossroads. Abdulla saw something others had missed, and brought them onto his team. Two years of hard work later, that person achieved the highest possible performance ranking.

"There's nothing more exciting than a comeback story," he says. “This one had all the chapters, down to the friends made along the way and the celebration at the end.” His philosophy has always been: “Build people so that they can do anything and go anywhere, but treat them well enough that they choose to stay.”

Two Wheels and Four Boys

Outside of work, Abdulla's life runs on two wheels and open air. Bicycle, motorcycle, dirt bike: if it has two wheels, he rides it, often with an audiobook playing. He has four boys, and loves camping by a lake with family and friends, coaching his kids the way he coaches his team, fully in the moment. He even brings a bit of Geotab along: a GO Anywhere device that rides on his bike everywhere he goes. It can't quite keep up with his off-road adventures yet. "Let's see how we can improve that," he laughs.

The thread running through all of it is the same: push past your limits, and keep your human connections healthy. Whether it's a co-op student finding their footing, a teammate writing their comeback chapter, or one of his boys around a campfire, for Abdulla, the win is always shared.