Awards were handed out at the 19th annual Capstone Engineering Design Project Competition, held on Thursday, March 27, 2025, at the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park.
Panels of judges, comprised of local community and industry leaders, presented first and second place awards in the categories of Waste Valorization, Green Fuels and Chemicals, and Bioindustrial and Pharma Processes following presentations made by 60 students from the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at Western University.
Waste Valorization
First Place: Recovery of Rare Earth Metals from E-Waste
Project Engineers: Mohammed Abdulmalik, Lieth Alhumaid, Sharoan Thevasuthan, Oreofe Ogunlunde
Second Place: Chemical Recycling of Waste Plastic by Hydrothermal Process
Project Engineers: Awos Marei, Mackenzie Seaver, Max Shi, Andre Desrochers
Green Fuels and Chemicals
First Place: Conversion of CO2 to Green Methanol
Project Engineers: Will van Nostand, Maya Cardey, Rabbiah Arshad, Kavser Kaiser, Joe Lemieux
Second Place: Pyrolysis of Greenhouse Waste
Project Engineers: Tierney Claire Craven, Natalia Belen Del Valle Mendez, Castillo Christoper Waring, Fiona Ogbazion Yosef
Bioindustrial and Pharma Processes
First Place: Biomass Fermentation for the Production of Alternative Proteins
Project Engineers: Tristan Ybema, Jake Walker, Kaley Harris, Sara Pucci
Second Place: Fermentation for the Production of Skincare Products
Project Engineers: Ella Chiarcos, Allison Gocan, Stephanie Smith, Emma Parent
“The annual Capstone competition is a milestone event for the students to demonstrate the engineering skills and judgement they developed through their programs at Western Engineering,” said Dr. Katherine Albion, Executive Director of the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park. “It is rewarding to see that a number of the students have connections to Sarnia-Lambton—whether as residents of our communities, as former interns with local industries, or as future graduates launching their careers here. Their new ideas and knowledge will continue to drive growth and innovation in the region for years to come.”
Sponsorships totaling $10,000 were generously donated by: ARLANXEO, Bluewater Power, CF Industries, Generate Upcycle, Kent, Montrose Environmental Solutions Canada, Rally Engineering, Western Research Parks, Wolverine and Worley.
