Awards were handed out at the 20th annual Capstone Engineering Design Project Competition, held on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, 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 Carbon Dioxide Utilization and 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.
Sponsorships totaling $8,000 were generously donated by: ARLANXEO, Bluewater Power, CF Industries, Generate Upcycle, Kent, NOVA Chemicals, Western Research Parks and Worley. The winning projects are as follows:
Carbon Dioxide Utilization and Waste Valorization
First Place: CO2 Conversion into Low Carbon Aviation Fuels
Project Engineers: Laura Alwyn, Luke Jaggernauth, Lisa Dubois, Jialin Wu, Vikas Vikas
Second Place: Carbon Capture and Utilization
Project Engineers: Abigail Kanalec, Katherine Graham, Shelby Kleven, Sydney Buyze, Marlina Zeljeznjak
Green Fuels and Chemicals
First Place: Production of Formic Acid as a Green Hydrogen Carrier
Project Engineers: Jennifer Peshko, Matt Proulx, Alexi Tran-Chapman, Thoma Marlow, Paula Rojas Becerra
Second Place: Production of Lithium Carbonate from Spodumene Ore
Project Engineers: Adam Ierullo, Ella Holtkamp, Blair Battochio, Elsa Daigle, Arianna Satram
Bioindustrial and Pharma Processes
First Place: Valorization of CO₂ into Acetylsalicylic Acid (ASA)
Project Engineers: Aditi Basdeo, Isabella d’Almeida, Melissa Fruci, Evan Park
Second Place: Net-Zero Winery
Project Engineers: Melanie Fletcher, Katherine Hajjar, Alexandria Samuel, Katherine Graham, Liam Fogel
