Awards Presented at 10th Annual Capstone Competition

Sarnia, ON – Awards have been handed out at the 10th anniversary edition of the Capstone Design & Competition at the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park in Sarnia today. More than 60 students from the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and Green Process Engineering Departments at Western University participated by presenting their design projects to a panel of judges comprised of local industry and community leaders.

"The Capstone competition creates an environment in which students can learn from experienced industry leaders in Sarnia-Lambton," said Katherine Albion, Bowman Centre Director at the Research Park. "Insight shared by the engineers and chemists of our community will go a long ways towards shaping the experiences and careers of participating students."

16 teams of students presented in the Chemical & Biochemical Processes, Energy & Fuels, and Environmental and Waste Treatment categories. The winning teams included:

Chemical & Biochemical Processes

  • First Place: Production of Polymer Grade Lactic Acid from Corn Feedstock
      • Project Engineers: Michelle Anne Bashaw, Meaghann Susan Buitinga, Shivani Chotalia, and Michael O’Brien
  • Second Place: High Severity Fluid Catalytic Cracking
      • Project Engineers: Sharon Flaherty, Nathan Brown, and Mack Atkinson

Energy & Fuels

  • First Place: Gas to Liquid via Low-Temperature Fischer-Tropsch with Cobalt Catalyst
      • Project Engineers: Chad Gray, Mike Wood, Colin Gunn, Mario Naric, and Rheece De Veyra
  • Second Place: Fast Pyrolysis Bio-oil Upgrading via Hydrodeoxygenation
      • Project Engineers: Douglas Todd Brennand, Aidan Connor Brookson, Andrew Shier, and Jaime Ward

Environmental and Waste Treatment

  • First Place: Wastewater Treatment of Oil Sands Tailing Water
      • Project Engineers: Jessica Godin, Tamara Abu-Abed, and Kara Terpstra
  • Second Place: Supercritical Water Gasification of Sewage Sludge
      • Project Engineers: Aaron Kennedy Baechler, Rabaab Kaur Chugh, Mitchell Leslie Elver House, and Michael John Nelson

In 10 years of Capstone competition, 504 students have participated, presenting 140 projects. 119 sponsorships have been presented, with a total value of $118,850.

For more information, contact:

Katherine Albion
Director, The Bowman Centre
Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park
519-383-8303 ext. 240
kalbion@sarnialambtonresearchpark.ca